Secret Intelligence

by Blaine Baggett, Ernest Volkman

s/t: The Inside Story of America's Espionage Empire.
A companion volume to the PBS-TV series of the same name is "a lucid review of the development of US espionage. Based on interviews with spies, policymakers & former CIA directors, this is the fascinating history of American espionage--from the 1919 'Red Scare' to Watergate & the Iran-Contra affair."
Beginning with spying during WWI & WWII, this book moves on to a penetrating analysis of the birth & devlopment of the vast central inteliigence network. Based on voluminous documentary sources & interviews with policymakers, spies & intelligence officials--including one of the last interviews William Casey ever granted--this book is a revealing account of American espionage in the 20th century. Illustrated.

Genres: History

287 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 24, 1988

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Secret Intelligence" is a great outline of the many operations that took place during the KGB versus CIA era of spying. The CIA was on their tip toes during that era, doing whatever they could to ensure that no Russian mole would break through the "forcefield" of intelligence gathering.

This era is in my opinion the last greatest era of espionage, because it involved actual human sources rather than an electronic means of eavesdropping (wiretaps, cryptography of files, VOIP hacking, Smart Phone/Android Phone hacking by means of an SHM app bug trace).

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on a PBS documentary, this is a rather surface-skimming study of the intelligence aparati of the USA since WWI. Much is discussed. Much is not even mentioned. One presumes the editors were concerned about lawsuits and ratings.