No one can resist a good conspiracy theory—particulary if it involves the MI6, the Nazis, and the Royal Family—and the one behind Rudolf Hess' flight to Scotland during WWII has yet to be debunked

On May 10, 1941, on a whim, Hitler's deranged deputy Rudolf Hess flew a Messerschmitt Bf 110 to Scotland in a bizarre effort to make peace with Britain. Goering sent fighters to stop him but he was long gone. Arrested and tried at Nuremberg, he would die by his own hand in 1987, aged 93. That's the official story. Ever since, conspiracy theories have swirled around the famous mission. How strong were his connections with the British establishment, including royalty? Was the death of the king's brother the Duke of York associated with the Hess overture for peace? In the several books on Hess, one obvious line of inquiry has been overlooked until now—an analysis of the flight itself: the flight plan, the data sheets, the navigation system. Through their investigation over many years, the authors come to a startling conclusion. The Luftwaffe was fully aware of the flight—and therefore so was the Nazi high command. The implications are far reaching and lend credence to the theory that the British establishment has hidden the truth of British/Nazi communications, partly to spare the reputations of members of the Royal Family