In The Third Secret, Nigel West makes a convincing case that when the CIA joined forces with the Vatican under the Polish Pope John Paul II to launch a massive campaign to destabilize Warsaw's Communist regime, the KGB retaliated by attempting to kill the pontiff. West reveals the extraordinary strength of the Pope's personal commitment to the destruction of Communism in Europe, and sheds new light on the Soviet involvement in the failed 1981 assassination plot. Based on reliable sources within the Vatican, CIA, KGB, and other intelligence services, this book breaks new ground in our understanding of one of the key events in modern history. Nigel West is a military historian and an expert in intelligence and security issues.