"This book is about a survivor: of two world wars, seven popes, the monarchy, fascism, the First Republic and perhaps even the Second, if it is true that it is in crisis. And of six trials for mafia association and murder. It is the biography of a protagonist and witness who is quite unique in the Italian landscape: a friend of popes, heads of state, nuns, beggars, bankrupts, saints, dictators, actresses, emirs, painters, footballers, thieves and mafia colluders. A former powerful figure who is difficult to define as ‘former’, and about whom the younger generations know little and the older ones think they know (almost) everything, even if this is not true."