Revealing a history of mysterious deaths, shady characters, and moral and political tensions, exposes the inner workings of the Catholic Church to trace how the Vatican evolved from an institution of faith into an extremely wealthy corporate power. --Publisher's description.

Murder in London -- The last pope king -- Enter the black nobles -- "Merely a palace, not a state" -- An unholy alliance -- "The pope banker" -- Prelude to war -- A policy of silence -- The blacklist -- Blood money -- A Nazi spy in the Vatican? -- The ratline -- "He's no pope" -- The men of confidence -- "You can't run the church on Hail Marys" -- Operation Fraulein -- Il crack sindona -- The battle of two scorpions -- "A psychopathic paranoid" -- The year of three popes -- The backdoor deal -- "The Vatican has abandoned me" -- "You have to kill thePope" -- "Tell your father to be quiet" -- "Protect the source" -- "A heck of a lot of money" -- "I've been poisoned" -- White finance -- Suitcases of cash -- Burying the trail on Nazi gold -- "A criminal underground in the priesthood" -- "His inbox was a disaster" -- The kingmaker becomes king -- "As flat as stale beer" -- Chasing the white list -- The world has changed -- The powerbroker -- The butler -- A vote of no confidence -- "A time bomb" -- The Swiss James Bond -- "The people's pope" -- "Back from the dead."