CIA Spymaster

CIA Spymaster PDF Author: Ashley, III, Clarence A.
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
ISBN: 9781455602230
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
AN ALTERNATE SELECTION OF THE HISTORY BOOK CLUB AND THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB "One of the best behind-the-scenes perspectives on Cold War espionage that I have read." -Francis Gary Powers, founder, The Cold War Museum "When I think of George Kisevalter, I think about one of the finest public servants I have ever known. I think about honor, decency, and integrity. He served in some very important and difficult posts, always with distinction, always making his country and the Agency proud." -George Herbert Walker Bush, president and former CIA director George Kisevalter ran the first key Soviet agent in CIA history, Pyotr Popov, gained the U.S. its first view behind the Iron Curtain, and helped gain information from Soviet colonel Oleg Penkovsky, regarded as the most successful spy in CIA history. This top-secret information proved decisive for Kennedy during the showdown of the Cuban missile crisis. More than a biography, CIA SpyMaster is a glimpse into the mind of an espionage genius, a rare view of what it takes to "live in the black" for years at a time under a fictitious identity, torn from friends and family. It's a behind-the-scenes look at spycraft in action, from dead drops and cutoffs to multilayered ciphers, the KGB's secret "spydust," and everything in between. It is a book of ever-increasing tension and suspense, as the rising stakes of the Cold War endow every act of espionage with utmost importance. During his lifetime, George Kisevalter was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the highest award attainable in the CIA without giving one's life. For his work with Penkovsky, he received a Certificate of Merit with Distinction. Less than two months before his death in 1997, he was selected as one of fifty "unique contributors" in the fifty-year history of the CIA and was presented with the newly established Trailblazers Award, the only case officer ever to be so honored.

CIA Spymaster

CIA Spymaster PDF Author: Ashley, III, Clarence A.
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
ISBN: 9781455602230
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book

Book Description
AN ALTERNATE SELECTION OF THE HISTORY BOOK CLUB AND THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB "One of the best behind-the-scenes perspectives on Cold War espionage that I have read." -Francis Gary Powers, founder, The Cold War Museum "When I think of George Kisevalter, I think about one of the finest public servants I have ever known. I think about honor, decency, and integrity. He served in some very important and difficult posts, always with distinction, always making his country and the Agency proud." -George Herbert Walker Bush, president and former CIA director George Kisevalter ran the first key Soviet agent in CIA history, Pyotr Popov, gained the U.S. its first view behind the Iron Curtain, and helped gain information from Soviet colonel Oleg Penkovsky, regarded as the most successful spy in CIA history. This top-secret information proved decisive for Kennedy during the showdown of the Cuban missile crisis. More than a biography, CIA SpyMaster is a glimpse into the mind of an espionage genius, a rare view of what it takes to "live in the black" for years at a time under a fictitious identity, torn from friends and family. It's a behind-the-scenes look at spycraft in action, from dead drops and cutoffs to multilayered ciphers, the KGB's secret "spydust," and everything in between. It is a book of ever-increasing tension and suspense, as the rising stakes of the Cold War endow every act of espionage with utmost importance. During his lifetime, George Kisevalter was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the highest award attainable in the CIA without giving one's life. For his work with Penkovsky, he received a Certificate of Merit with Distinction. Less than two months before his death in 1997, he was selected as one of fifty "unique contributors" in the fifty-year history of the CIA and was presented with the newly established Trailblazers Award, the only case officer ever to be so honored.

The Ghost

The Ghost PDF Author: Jefferson Morley
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250139104
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
"The best book ever written about the strangest CIA chief who ever lived." - Tim Weiner, National Book Award-winning author of Legacy of Ashes A revelatory new biography of the sinister, powerful, and paranoid man at the heart of the CIA for more than three tumultuous decades. CIA spymaster James Jesus Angleton was one of the most powerful unelected officials in the United States government in the mid-20th century, a ghost of American power. From World War II to the Cold War, Angleton operated beyond the view of the public, Congress, and even the president. He unwittingly shared intelligence secrets with Soviet spy Kim Philby, a member of the notorious Cambridge spy ring. He launched mass surveillance by opening the mail of hundreds of thousands of Americans. He abetted a scheme to aid Israel’s own nuclear efforts, disregarding U.S. security. He committed perjury and obstructed the JFK assassination investigation. He oversaw a massive spying operation on the antiwar and black nationalist movements and he initiated an obsessive search for communist moles that nearly destroyed the Agency. In The Ghost, investigative reporter Jefferson Morley tells Angleton’s dramatic story, from his friendship with the poet Ezra Pound through the underground gay milieu of mid-century Washington to the Kennedy assassination to the Watergate scandal. From the agency’s MKULTRA mind-control experiments to the wars of the Mideast, Angleton wielded far more power than anyone knew. Yet during his seemingly lawless reign in the CIA, he also proved himself to be a formidable adversary to our nation’s enemies, acquiring a mythic stature within the CIA that continues to this day.

Spymaster

Spymaster PDF Author: Ted Shackley
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1612342035
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 427

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Book Description
Lively and informative . . . It is also a good story of how an operative actually works in the field. -- Military Ted Shackley's comments on CIA operations in Europe, Cuba, Chile, and Southeast Asia and on the life of a high-stakes spymaster will be the subject of intense scrutiny by all concerned with the fields of intelligence, foreign policy, and postwar U.S. history. The death of CIA operative Theodore G. "Ted" Shackley in December 2002 triggered an avalanche of obituaries from all over the world, some of them condemnatory. Pundits used such expressions as "heroin trafficking," "training terrorists," "attempts to assassinate Castro," and "Mob connections." More specifically, they charged him with having played a major role in the Chilean military coup of 1973. But who was the real Ted Shackley? In Spymaster, he has told the story of his entire remarkable career for the first time. With the assistance of fellow former CIA officer Richard A. Finney, he discusses the consequential posts he held in Berlin, Miami, Laos, Vietnam, and Washington, where he was intimately involved in some of the key intelligence operations of the Cold War. During his long career, Shackley ran part of the inter-agency program to overthrow Castro, was chief of station in Vientiane during the CIA's "secret war" against North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao, and was chief of station in Saigon. After his retirement, he remained a controversial figure. In the early eighties, he was falsely charged with complicity in the Iran-Contra scandal.

The Spymasters

The Spymasters PDF Author: Chris Whipple
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982106417
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"Only eleven men and one woman are alive today who have made the life-and-death decisions that come with running the world's most powerful and influential intelligence service. With unprecedented, deep access to nearly all these individuals plus several of their predecessors, Chris Whipple tells the story of an agency that answers to the United States president alone, but whose activities--spying, espionage, and covert action--take place on every continent. At pivotal moments, the CIA acts as a brake on rogue presidents, starting in the mid-seventies with DCI Richard Helms's refusal to conceal Richard Nixon's criminality and continuing to the present as the actions of a CIA whistleblower have ignited impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. Since its inception in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency has been a powerful player on the world stage, operating largely in the shadows to protect American interests. For The Spymasters, Whipple conducted extensive, exclusive interviews with nearly every living CIA director, pulling back the curtain on the world's elite spy agencies and showing how the CIA partners--or clashes--with counterparts in Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. Topics covered in the book include attempts by presidents to use the agency for their own ends; simmering problems in the Middle East and Asia; rogue nuclear threats; and cyberwarfare"--

Good Hunting

Good Hunting PDF Author: Jack Devine
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
ISBN: 142994417X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
"A sophisticated, deeply informed account of real life in the real CIA that adds immeasurably to the public understanding of the espionage culture—the good and the bad." —Bob Woodward Jack Devine ran Charlie Wilson's War in Afghanistan. It was the largest covert action of the Cold War, and it was Devine who put the brand-new Stinger missile into the hands of the mujahideen during their war with the Soviets, paving the way to a decisive victory against the Russians. He also pushed the CIA's effort to run down the narcotics trafficker Pablo Escobar in Colombia. He tried to warn the director of central intelligence, George Tenet, that there was a bullet coming from Iraq with his name on it. He was in Chile when Allende fell, and he had too much to do with Iran-Contra for his own taste, though he tried to stop it. And he tangled with Rick Ames, the KGB spy inside the CIA, and hunted Robert Hanssen, the mole in the FBI. Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story is the spellbinding memoir of Devine's time in the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served for more than thirty years, rising to become the acting deputy director of operations, responsible for all of the CIA's spying operations. This is a story of intrigue and high-stakes maneuvering, all the more gripping when the fate of our geopolitical order hangs in the balance. But this book also sounds a warning to our nation's decision makers: covert operations, not costly and devastating full-scale interventions, are the best safeguard of America's interests worldwide. Part memoir, part historical redress, Good Hunting debunks outright some of the myths surrounding the Agency and cautions against its misuses. Beneath the exotic allure—living abroad with his wife and six children, running operations in seven countries, and serving successive presidents from Nixon to Clinton—this is a realist, gimlet-eyed account of the Agency. Now, as Devine sees it, the CIA is trapped within a larger bureaucracy, losing swaths of turf to the military, and, most ominous of all, is becoming overly weighted toward paramilitary operations after a decade of war. Its capacity to do what it does best—spying and covert action—has been seriously degraded. Good Hunting sheds light on some of the CIA's deepest secrets and spans an illustrious tenure—and never before has an acting deputy director of operations come forth with such an account. With the historical acumen of Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and gripping scenarios that evoke the novels of John le Carré even as they hew closely to the facts on the ground, Devine offers a master class in spycraft.

William Colby and the CIA

William Colby and the CIA PDF Author: John Prados
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 070061690X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
It is surprising that no one previous to John Prados attempted a biography of quintessential cold warrior William Colby, because his story is in many ways also the story of the CIA. From Italy to Vietnam, to the military coup in Indonesia, to Watergate, the prosecution of Richard Helms, investigations of CIA assassination plots, and the drugging and surveillance of unwitting Americans, Colby was there, on the ground or deeply involved at headquarters.—The Guardian William E. Colby was one of the most enigmatic figures of the Cold War and a central player in the operations of the Central Intelligence Agency. While publicly appearing as a calm bureaucrat, behind the scenes Colby helped orchestrate some of CIA's most controversial operations. His mysterious death even added to the aura. In the wake of new questions relating to CIA activities since 9/11—which John Prados discusses in his new preface—Colby's story provides crucial lessons for a nation that still struggles to reconcile intelligence methods with democratic principles. Prados tracks Colby's life and career from early years in the OSS to his tumultuous tenure as Director of Central Intelligence in the 1970s. Reviled by many outside the CIA for his role in Vietnam-and inside it for his cooperation with probes of the agency—Colby was cast as a scapegoat by the Ford White House during the Church and Pike congressional investigations. In addition, Prados offers fresh insights and new perspectives on Colby's involvement in the notorious Phoenix program in Vietnam and in the bloody Indonesian coup of 1965 that overthrew President Sukarno and brought General Suharto to power, as well as on the CIA's role in the 1963 assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam and on the actions of high-level CIA officials during the final demise of South Vietnam in 1975. A masterful study of a master spy, William Colby and the CIA also offers a vital and timely history of the inner workings of "the Company" for which he worked. Originally published in a cloth edition under the title Lost Crusader and retitled for this first paperback edition, William Colby and the CIA explores dilemmas of intelligence that are of renewed importance today.

A Spy's Journey

A Spy's Journey PDF Author: Floyd Paseman
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1616732733
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
In 1967 Floyd Paseman joined the Central Intelligence Agency following successful service as an army officer in Germany. He was first stationed in the Far East, where he became fluent in Chinese language and culture, and then in Germany, at what was largely considered the agency’s toughest Cold War field posting. Over the years he rose from field spy to division chief and ultimately the top ranks in the Operations Directorate of the CIA. Paseman details the behind-the-scenes intelligence gathering during the major events of eight presidential administrations from Lyndon B. Johnson through George W. Bush.

Spymaster

Spymaster PDF Author: Tennent H. Bagley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510701966
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
“Tennent Bagley’s Spymaster is the single most revealing book about espionage to emerge from the Cold War.” —Edward Jay Epstein, author of Deception: The Invisible War Between the KGB and the CIA From the dark days of World War II through the Cold War, Sergey A. Kondrashev was a major player in Russia’s notorious KGB espionage apparatus. Rising through its ranks through hard work and keen understanding of how the spy and political games are played, he “handled” American and British defectors, recruited Western operatives as double agents, served as a ranking officer at the East Berlin and Vienna KGB bureaus, and tackled special assignments from the Kremlin. During a 1994 television program about former spymasters, Kondrashev met and began a close friendship with a former foe, ex-CIA officer Tennent H. “Pete” Bagley, whom the Russian asked to help write his memoirs. Because Bagley knew so much about Kondrashev’s career (they had been on opposite sides in several operations), his penetrating questions and insights reveal slices of espionage history that rival anything found in the pages of Ian Fleming, Len Deighton, or John le Carré: chilling tales of surviving Stalin’s purges while superiors and colleagues did not, of plotting to reveal the Berlin tunnel, of quelling the Hungarian Revolution and “Prague Spring” independence movements, and of assisting in arranging the final disposition of the corpses of Adolf Hitler and Evan Braun. Kondrashev also details equally fascinating KGB propaganda and disinformation efforts that shaped Western attitudes throughout the Cold War. Because publication of these memoirs was banned by Putin’s regime, Bagley promised Kondrashev to have them published in the West. They are now available to all who are fascinated by vivid tales of international intrigue. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

CIA Spymaster

CIA Spymaster PDF Author: Clarence Ashley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cold War
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
"For nearly thirty years, CIA case officer George Kisevalter lived the Cold War ... More than a biography, CIA spymaster is a glimpse into the mind of an espionage genius, a rare view of what it takes to 'live in the black' for years at a time under a fictitious identity, torn from friends and family. It's a behind-the-scenes look at spycraft in action, from dead drops and cutoffs to multi-layered ciphers, the KGB's secret 'spy dust,' and everything in between'--Description from dust jacket.

The Good Spy

The Good Spy PDF Author: Kai Bird
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307889769
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history – a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West. On April 18, 1983, a bomb exploded outside the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The attack was a geopolitical turning point. It marked the beginning of Hezbollah as a political force, but even more important, it eliminated America’s most influential and effective intelligence officer in the Middle East – CIA operative Robert Ames. What set Ames apart from his peers was his extraordinary ability to form deep, meaningful connections with key Arab intelligence figures. Some operatives relied on threats and subterfuge, but Ames worked by building friendships and emphasizing shared values – never more notably than with Yasir Arafat’s charismatic intelligence chief and heir apparent Ali Hassan Salameh (aka “The Red Prince”). Ames’ deepening relationship with Salameh held the potential for a lasting peace. Within a few years, though, both men were killed by assassins, and America’s relations with the Arab world began heading down a path that culminated in 9/11, the War on Terror, and the current fog of mistrust. Bird, who as a child lived in the Beirut Embassy and knew Ames as a neighbor when he was twelve years old, spent years researching The Good Spy. Not only does the book draw on hours of interviews with Ames’ widow, and quotes from hundreds of Ames’ private letters, it’s woven from interviews with scores of current and former American, Israeli, and Palestinian intelligence officers as well as other players in the Middle East “Great Game.” What emerges is a masterpiece-level narrative of the making of a CIA officer, a uniquely insightful history of twentieth-century conflict in the Middle East, and an absorbing hour-by-hour account of the Beirut Embassy bombing. Even more impressive, Bird draws on his reporter’s skills to deliver a full dossier on the bombers and expose the shocking truth of where the attack’s mastermind resides today.