Book excerpt: "The KGB archivist and defector Vasili Nikitivich Mitrokhin created voluminous transcriptions and summaries of KGB records that span almost 20 years. These transcriptions contain, among other details, a limited but interesting account of KGB activities directed against the Holy See from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, at a time when the Vatican was attempting to reach out to Communist governments in Eastern Europe. This book is a translation of those passages in the Mitrokhin Archive related to the Holy See. This original text is preceded by a three-part introduction covering: who was Vasili Mitrokhin and how were his files created and smuggled to the United Kingdom; the historical background of the relationship between the Soviet regime and the Vatican, leading up to and including the period discussed in Mitrokhin's record; and finally, a summary of the Mitrokhin Archive's revelations regarding the KGB's efforts against the Vatican, both independently and in coordination with political police forces in the satellite regimes in Eastern Europe"--