Customer Reviews

Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Gentleman Spy" is more than just the life of one man, Allen Dulles. It's the development of the United States into a super power and of the build-up of a massive intelligence network. At the center or sometimes fringes of all this dwelled Allen Dulles. Dulles' influence on intelligence gathering and covert activities still dominates our country, even though he left the CIA over 35 years ago. His love for the great game of espionage inspired young disciples who in turn became key leaders of the intelligence community. It's easy to praise or blame Dulles for many of the problems that we are still experiencing today due to lack of honest or accurate analysis, or involvment in the affairs of duely elected foreign governments. Peter Grose has mapped Dulles life in this massive biography and has done an excellent job of exploring Dulles' mind as to why he did what he did. The book is never boring. Dulles set the image of the "American Gentleman Spy," as being witty urbane and downright ruthless. Peter Grose has provent hat Dulles blended himself into that image seamlessly.

Gentleman Spy

By Peter Grose

Book Review

By Richard E. Noble

Opinions on Allen Dulles range from prominent diplomat, CIA mastermind and raconteur to a traitorous, conniving scoundrel, who sold out his country for personal gain. His Brother Foster is held in exactly the same regard.

This book I would not rank as the definitive biography of Allen Dulles. A definitive biography, it would be my guess, has not yet been written - and may never be written. This man and this family have more skeletons in its closet than one book could possibly contain - even a 641 page tome as this one.

To go even further, I would not define the main purpose of this book to be a biography of Allen Dulles. This is a history book dealing with the establishment of the CIA and its evolution over the years.

The CIA begins as a rather simple and primitive wartime intelligence gathering agency. It starts out in the late 40's and evolves into a giant government secret organization with unlimited, untraceable funds following the pattern of the Russian KGB or the Nazi SS.

It actually incorporates into it nefarious folds ex-members of the German SS and other Nazi organizations - "good Germans" according to Mr. Allen Dulles' conscience and a book he published.

It becomes involved with torture, killing, espionage, assassination, fomenting revolution, toppling foreign governments, and creating havoc and discord around the world on behalf of the American government for purposes often difficult to determine. This is not accusation; it is fact. You can read about it almost anywhere and in hundreds of books.

As head of the CIA and one of its initial founders Allen Dulles is everywhere and involved in things yet to be disclosed. But once again, I will repeat, this book is less about Mr. Allen Dulles as it is about the CIA and its evolution and its intrigues around the world.

If you are into studying this subject you will find this book to be more of an encyclopedia of well known and well documented facts.

Politically speaking I would say this book is middle of the road if not leaning somewhat to the right.

Allen Dulles' position with regards to his clients at Sullivan and Cromwell is explained clearly. Allen is a defender of moneyed interests. It matters little if his clients have their money invested in Nazi German munitions plants, or in smuggling war supplies into Nazi occupied territory. It is all American money and American money anywhere is worth defending and securing. Profit is profit - all wars aside. For most of us nearer to the bottom of the human food chain this is hardly a tenable position.

Allen, it becomes clear, is first a smart lawyer defending the interests of his moneyed clients and second, a government employee or whatever else might come along to advance his position and personal fortune.

He is a philanderer, and if you can believe this author, more concerned with the morality and ethics of his decision making, at least, than his brother Foster. His wife Clover seems to have been much more than he deserved.

The book does not go into details of investigations of Sullivan and Cromwell or any other of the Dulles financial investments and activity - shenanigans may be a better word. The author dismisses the bulk of these controversies as political in nature and skips on past.

The book contains lots of valid, documented information, very few opinions and avoids most anything controversial. Oh it states what happened or what was said but no controversial details. You will find all the prominent misfits from the annals of "spy" fame - Kolbe, Angleton, Donovan, Philby, Oswald, E. Howard Hunt and the rest. But I found nothing I didn't already know.

This book is a good mainstream overview of the CIA, the spy Game and Allen Dulles. But if you are looking for a scathing, no holds barred, in depth expose of the life, times, and shadowy involvements of Mr. Dulles and friends, this is not your book. This is a good, solid, conventional history book. If you want more "meat" I guess that you will have to wait for the unauthorized biography by Kitty Kelley - though, you will get more "fluff" than meat there, no doubt.

Richard Edward Noble - The Hobo Philosopher - Author of:

"Mein Kamp - An Analysis of Book One"

What a great book! If you are a history buff like me, you'll love this book. Allen Dulles, former lawyer, former diplomat, former OSS Operative, former President of the Council on Foreign Relations, for Director of the CIA (under Eisenhower and Kennedy), and brother of the Secretary of State (John Foster Dulles who the airport is named after), and member of the establishment -- this book is quite a treat. It takes us through the post-WWI years and then through WWII where Dulles was stationed for OSS in Bern. It then details the formation and escalation of the Cold War. Grosse does a terrific job detailing Dulles's public and personal lives. Highly recommended.

This is a well-researched, splendidly written biography of a very complex man, a real enigma. Even though the book is a decade old, its subject matter is still relevant today. Highly recommended.

Any notion that Allen Dulles was a gentleman is absolutely absurd! He helped Hitler secure funds for his war machine from American and British financial institutions. On behalf of his client, Nelson Rockefeller, Dulles arranged to keep a steady flow of Saudi oil flowing to Nazi Germany throughout the war. He knew about the Holocaust, but didn't lift a finger to help the Jews. Dulles and James Jesus Angleton setup the Nazi Ratline near war's end that smuggled thousands of Nazi war criminals out of Europe to various Middle Eastern states as well as Argentina. After the war, he organized Operation Paperclip to smuggle hundreds of Nazi war criminals from South America into the United States to work for the CIA. He and brother John Foster Dulles committed high treason by providing aid and comfort to the enemy during wartime; crimes for which they should have been executed. Instead, they got an international airport named after John Foster Dulles.

I just finished this book and it was an excellent read. The life of Allen Dulles is remarkable and deserves to be known. If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, then this is a required book.