Looking for recommendations for books on Gladio, and secret political fuckery in recent European history more in general.
TrueAnon's episodes on the Ilaria Alpi case ("Il Polpo", ep. 421/422) made me realize that I don't know nearly enough about my own country's recent history. That's partly because every other thing I learn about it makes my blood boil, but I guess that's not a good enough excuse.
I'm looking for something informative, but preferably that's also somewhat of an engaging read. My hamster attention span already struggles to read fiction, I literally could not get through a heavy academic book.
"killing hope" by william blum touches on it quite a bit in the european nations section
Damn ok this is a big one, both in scope and just number of pages... I'll definitely add it to my reading list, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not a bit intimidated by it.
i like it because its just pretty straightforward, but be warned it will take multiple sittings because the content is just evil to another level
Yeah I'm kinda expecting that from a book about this topic. That's actually good advertising for the book if it gives you the full scale of the facts, but given that I'm already constantly angry at the world this is probably masochism for my mental health...
I've got Operation Gladio : The Unholy Alliance Between The Vatican , The CIA And The Mafia by Paul L. Williams on my list, but I have no idea how it is. I've asked before and someone mentioned it, and that they found it on Google. I can point you towards a 3 parter BBC's TimeWatch did back in the 90s. It's pretty interesting.
https://youtu.be/AUvrPvV-KQo
I keep hearing about the Unholy Alliance so I guess I'll have to try it for myself. Also my ADHD is very grateful that you added a documentary as well
Lol, welcome. Let me know about Unholy Alliance. I'm constantly trying to find out more about Gladio. I think i was really introduced to it by one of Matt Christman's guest spots years ago, but I can't remember which pod it was on.
Alright when I manage to read a few chapters I'll let you know my feelings about it. Idk, Gladio was something that I've been vaguely aware of for quite a while, but I realized I've never properly informed myself about it beside the stuff I picked up from podcasts, video essays, etc.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Puppetmasters by Philip Willan is well written and comprehensive, but a little bit of a difficult read.
A lot of people like Unholy Alliance, but I couldn't take some of it seriously. To be fair I read it a long time ago, I might be more receptive to some of the speculation now.
Thanks for the recommendations! What was your issue with Unholy Alliance?
I read it a long time ago, but I remember feeling it did a good job with the facts, but it did kind of a sloppy job trying to weave it all into one overarching conspiracy, rather than a bunch of separate conspiracies as part of a larger system. I still think it's a good book, though.
I just realized the book there's a different book called "Unholy Alliance". I'm referring to "Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia" by Paul Williams
Oh yeah no worries I got which book you were talking about. And ok gotcha, that seems fair enough. It's often difficult to tie all the threads together when you're talking about covert operations with a bunch of different actors collaborating for different interests. It still sounds like it's worth a try.
