The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage [Hardcover]

Eric Frattini (Author), Dick Cluster (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 2008

The International Bestseller

“A true story that surpasses any novel by John le Carré.”—El País (Spain)

For five centuries, the Vatican—the oldest organization in the world, maker of kings and shaper of history—has used a secret spy service, called the Holy Alliance, or later, the Entity, to carry out its will. Forty popes have relied on it to carry out their policies. They have played a hitherto invisible role confronting de-Christianizations and schisms, revolutions and dictators, colonizations and expulsions, persecutions and attacks, civil wars and world wars, assassinations and kidnappings.

For the first time in English (following the bestselling Spanish and French editions), Eric Frattini tells the comprehensive tale of this sacred secret service. The Entity has been involved in the killings of monarchs, poisonings of diplomats, financing of South American dictators, protection of war criminals, laundering of Mafia money, manipulation of financial markets, provocation of bank failures, and financing of arms sales to combatants even as their wars were condemned, all in the name of God. The contradiction between God’s justice and Earth’s justice, Christian beliefs and Christian power all fall before the motto of the Entity: With the Cross and the Sword.

Editorial Reviews

Review

International Praise for The Entity

“Through his meticulously documented research into five centuries of history, Eric Frattini gives us an exclusive look at the hidden face of the papacy---revelations that send a chill up the spine.”—Le Monde

“A devastating book.”—Valeurs (France)

“A must-read.”—El Universal (Mexico)

“An investigation worthy of a Pulitzer. Frattini puts all the secrets of the Vatican out on the table.”—Diário de Notícias (Portugal)

About the Author

Eric Frattini has written books on the FBI, the UN, and the CIA, and is the author of Mafia Inc.: 100 Years of Cosa Nostra. He is a TV correspondent and lives in Spain.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (November 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375948
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375942
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ERIC FRATTINI worked as a correspondent in the Middle East and has lived in Beirut (Lebanon), Nicosia (Cyprus) and Jerusalem (Israel).

Frattini is the author of around twenty books amongst which are Osama bin Laden, la espada de Ala (2001); Mafia S.A. 100 Anos de Cosa Nostra (2002); Secretos Vaticanos (2003); ONU, historia de la corrupcion (2005); La Conjura, Matar a Lorenzo de Medici (2006); Mossad, la Ira e Israel (2007), or the tetralogy about the history of the most famous espionage services (CIA, KGB, Mossad and MI6).

His works has been published in several countries like in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil, Poland and Russia. Frattini is the director and scriptwriter of approximately twenty research documentaries for the main Spanish televisions. The author is a regular collaborator of the TV programme "Cuatro Milenio", directed by Iker Jimenez in the Spanish channel Cuatro TV. In 2007, he published El Quinto Mandamiento (The Fifth Commandment), his first novel, which has been translated into numerous languages. El laberinto de Agua (The Labyrinth of Water), his second novel to date, has been launched in Spain by Espasa Calpe in 2009.

Author's Official Web Site: www.ericfrattini.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sub-society and research concerns, December 12, 2009

By 

S. L. Sinclair (Aschaffenburg, Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage (Hardcover)

Truly not a bad historical reference book of the Church. Providing insight into each important conclave and the divisions therein were, for me, interesting. Also in dealing with the papal states, their maintenance and eventual loss, was somewhat informative. The dealings of various European rulers and leaders with the Church added to my knowledge some new information.

My concern, and I'll admit it's a small one, deals with the fact gathering of groups like the Octogonus Circle, the Society of the Thirteen and others. What an ominous name - Octogonus Circle. We are so intrigued today with anything secret and hidden and as readers we enjoy conspiracies and spy-like games. Why is it that a group such as one of these, that has existed for nearly 500 years is basically non-existent on the Internet? On Amazon, The Octogonus Circle, by Peter Harris is only offered in Spanish and appears to be the only book like it anywhere. This book is not even referenced in Mr Frattini's bibliography! Moreover, there is nothing on the Internet aside these two books referencing the Circle. The same exists with the Society of the Thirteen, minus one book or at least the one that I could find.

I do ask where he gathered the information on these groups.

While I concede that what happens within governments is on most levels unknown to us. We truly have no clue, so I did find this book interesting. But I must wonder about certain aspects of this book, even though the bibliography is well listed - minus one aspect...

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jesus in the Underworld, July 20, 2009

By 

Thomas J. Hickey (River Forest, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage (Hardcover)

Frattini says: "The Entity" is the current name for the Vatican's intelligence agency, which was founded by Pope Pius V in 1566. Its original name was the "Holy Alliance" until renamed "The Entity" in 1930 by Pope Pius XI. In 1913 Pius X founded a counterintelligence agency called "Sodalitium Pianum" to uncover enemy spies in the Vatican. In more recent times the Entity has collaborated with the US CIA and the Israeli Mossad. Also examined is the "Istituto per le Opere di Religione" (a.k.a. the "Vatican Bank"), which reports directly to the Pope and finances covert operations. The book's subtitle is "Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage", and it purportedly describes the operations of these Vatican intelligence agencies from their founding to today's papacy.

The book is written both in the style of a chronological documentary with endnotes and also in the style of a novel by an omniscient author. The story-telling narrative describing plots mitigates the tedium of documentary recitation. The reader is a fly on the wall snooping on the sleuths, an insider privy to plots, comments and secrets of persons long dead.

It is unlikely that the Vatican - the world's oldest organization - has survived for two millennia in the jungle of world affairs by assuming a role and status comparable to Walt Disney's naïve and wide-eyed Bambi. It has protected itself and its self-consciously messianic otherworld mission against very worldly predatory enemies by making alliances with other equally unsavory but less unsympathetic worldly predators.

But some of the Vatican's many bargains with the Devil have been Faustian. It has become entangled in affairs that would likely not have been approved by the historic Jesus or by the early Christians, who were content merely to practice their religion without persecution by the Emperor of ancient Rome and martyrdom by the jaws of his lions in his Coliseum.

This is a believe-it-or-not book. Assuming heroically(!) no outright speculative fabrications in its pages the reader still must judge for himself how much this expose of the more sinister clandestine events actually reveals guilt by participation and how much it unjustly assigns guilt by association.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Intriguing, October 22, 2009

By 

Varvara London (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage (Hardcover)

Loved this book and have recommended it to friends. As many well documented histories, it was not a fast read, but was worth the time and effort. It gave another dimension to historical events. I especially enjoyed the detailed information about the College of Cardinals and the politics behind the election of each pope.