In the latest of a series of books with hyper-literal titles, historian and journalist Dan Kurzman brings us Special Mission: Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican and Kidnap Pope Pius the XII, a fascinating look at one of the increasingly infirm dictator’s late-stage plots.

Fearing that Pius XII would speak out against the Nazi’s actions against the Jews, he ordered the SS leader in Italy, Gen. Karl Wolff, to carry out the deed. Kurzman, then writing for The Washington Post, was the first to interview Wolff after the war. Describing him as a successful opportunist, Kurzman explains Nazi/Vatican relations from the 1933 Concordat, the ultimate reason for Pius XII’s silence throughout the war to that point.

Kurzman was interviewed by NPR’s All Things Considered today, during which time he described Wolff’s daring betrayal of the Fürer and his hopes that the pope might be an instrument in negotiating peace and a subsequent Anglo-American-German offensive against the unruly Soviets.

Read an excerpt and listen to the full interview here.