MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Papal skulduggery
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by an account of the long history of Catholic Church’s involvement in espionage
SEEING EYE TO EYE: US President Meeting with Pope John Paul II during a visit to Vatican City, 1982
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ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
Vatican Spies
Yvonnick Denoel, Hurst, £25
VATICAN SPIES reveals much about how the Catholic Church developed its own intelligence network, often with the help of other agencies such as the CIA, French and Italian security services.
The interactions with the mafia during World War II period at the behest of the US, and getting caught up with the Mob through various dodgy financial dealings, makes for a fascinating read.
The Catholic Church with its universal reach to 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, connected by a network of parishes and dioceses, amounts to a spy master’s dream. On the face of it virtuous and God-serving, below the surface it is as ruthless and brutal as any other intelligence operation.
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