Book excerpt: A scathing critique of the Vatican's political power in 19th century Italy, written by French author Edmond About. This book examines the complex power struggles between the papacy, the Italian state, and the broader European powers, and offers a trenchant analysis of the corruption and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church during this period. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.