"Rupert Cornwell's book brilliantly outlines the facts and figures of Calvi's epic fraud, sketching in many of the important characters involved, whether innocent or not. In doing so he has written one of the few books about modern Italy which clarifies several vital issues rather than makes them more obscure. His book tells us a great deal about modern Italy itself and the Western banking system, and indicates what many would now regard as the unacceptable side of the Vatican - how it runs its own banking system." - Robert Fox, The Listener