Narrator: The streets of Tehran are electric with tension in November 1943. A long, black presidential limousine, flanked by military police, cuts through the crowded city. Onlookers catch a glimpse of the man in the back seat—the familiar profile, the cigarette holder clenched between his teeth. It is, without a doubt, the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But it isn't. The man in the limousine is a decoy, a Secret Service agent playing the part. Miles away, the real FDR, frail and concealed, is being hurried through dusty back alleys in a nondescript sedan, guarded by a single jeep. This elaborate deception was not born from paranoia, but from chilling intelligence. A team of Nazi assassins was already in the city, and their mission was to kill not just Roosevelt, but Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin as well.

This stunning, real-life scene is the entry point into the high-stakes world of The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch. The book uncovers the hidden history of this audacious plot, a conspiracy that, if successful, would have decapitated the Allied leadership and potentially changed the outcome of World War II. It’s a story of espionage, immense risk, and a desperate race to stop a catastrophe.

Narrator: The book first establishes why the Tehran Conference was both absolutely essential and incredibly dangerous. By late 1943, the war had reached a critical turning point. The Allies had momentum, but they lacked a unified, decisive strategy to crush Nazi Germany. The Tehran Conference was the first time Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin—the "Big Three"—would meet together. Their goal was monumental: to finalize the plans for D-Day, the cross-channel invasion of France that would open the Western Front and seal Hitler's fate. As the authors emphasize, the success of this meeting was not just a strategic goal; millions of lives depended on it.

However, the choice of Tehran as the location created a perfect storm for assassins. Iran was officially neutral but was occupied by Soviet and British forces, with a small American presence. The city was a chaotic crossroads of spies, sympathizers, and operatives from every side of the conflict. It was crawling with German agents. Security was a nightmare. The American and British embassies were miles apart, requiring the leaders to travel through unsecured city streets daily.

This logistical vulnerability is what the Nazis planned to exploit. Meltzer and Mensch paint a vivid picture of a city under immense pressure, where the Allied security forces were stretched thin and operating on foreign soil with limited resources. It was into this tinderbox that the Nazis sent their elite commandos, believing they could move through the chaos, strike the leaders, and vanish, plunging the Allied war effort into disarray. The conference was the Allies' single greatest hope for victory, and its location made it their single greatest vulnerability.

Narrator: The Nazi Conspiracy delves deep into the mindset that could produce such a daring plot. The book explains that the plan, codenamed Operation Long Jump, was not merely a military tactic but a direct product of the Nazi ideology itself. This ideology was a toxic brew of extreme nationalism, racial hatred, and a profound belief in grand conspiracy theories. The Nazis had built their power by demonizing enemies, and by 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin were the living embodiments of everything they sought to destroy.

The authors detail how the plot was born within the highest echelons of the SS. They introduce the key German figures, including the infamous Otto Skorzeny, a physically imposing and ruthless SS commando known as "the most dangerous man in Europe." Skorzeny had recently achieved legendary status for his daring glider rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. He was Hitler's go-to man for impossible missions, and assassinating the Big Three was seen as the ultimate prize.

The book narrates the formation of the plot not as a simple order, but as a fanatical crusade. For the Nazis, killing the Allied leaders was more than a strategic move; it was a symbolic act meant to prove their own superiority and shatter Allied morale. They believed that the alliance was a fragile construct, held together only by the force of will of these three men. As one key quote from the book's prologue states, "If the Nazis have their way, these three world leaders won’t leave the city alive—and the Allied hopes for victory will die with them." This insight shows that the plot was fueled by a desperate, almost mystical belief that a single, violent act could reverse the tide of the war.

Narrator: The core of the book is a gripping narrative of the secret war fought between Nazi assassins and Allied intelligence services in the days leading up to the conference. Meltzer and Mensch reconstruct the frantic, high-stakes race against time. The first whispers of the plot were reportedly picked up by Soviet intelligence. A young Soviet agent, Gevork Vartanian, and his small team of "light cavalry" were tasked with tracking German operatives in Tehran. They identified the first wave of Nazi commandos who had been parachuted into the country to set up the assassination.

This discovery set off a chain reaction of disbelief, rivalry, and finally, cooperation among the Allied security teams. The American Secret Service, led by the stoic Mike Reilly, was fiercely protective of Roosevelt and initially skeptical of Soviet intelligence. The British were equally cautious. The book masterfully builds the tension as these different agencies, each with their own methods and suspicions, had to learn to trust each other to thwart a common threat.

The story of the "Deception Motorcade" becomes the climax of this intelligence battle. After the Soviets presented compelling evidence of the plot, Roosevelt made a crucial decision. He agreed to Stalin's proposal to move into the fortified Soviet embassy, which was conveniently located right next to the British embassy. This eliminated the need for dangerous daily travel through the city. The decoy motorcade was the final piece of the security puzzle, a brilliant piece of theater designed to fool any Nazi spotters who were still watching. The book reveals that the race was won not by a single gunshot, but by painstaking intelligence work, clandestine surveillance, and the difficult, last-minute decision to trust an ally. The plot was foiled before the assassins could even get close to their targets.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from The Nazi Conspiracy is that history's greatest turning points are often far more fragile than they appear. The Allied victory in World War II, which can seem inevitable in hindsight, hinged on moments of profound uncertainty and risk. The Tehran Conference was one such moment. The entire strategic direction of the war, and the leadership of the free world, was gathered in one vulnerable place, targeted by a determined and capable enemy. The book powerfully demonstrates that the war was saved not only on the battlefield, but in the shadows, by spies and security agents whose names are largely lost to history.

Ultimately, Meltzer and Mensch leave readers with a challenging thought: the grand narrative of history is composed of countless hidden stories like this one. It serves as a stark reminder that the stability we often take for granted is frequently secured by unseen courage and sacrifice. The book challenges us to look beyond the famous speeches and treaties and to appreciate the precarious human drama that so often determines the course of our world.