Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaeda [Hardcover]

Thomas Powers (Author)

Book Description

Series: New York Review Books Collections Series | Publication Date: December 2002

These essays about U.S. intelligence services, from Thomas Powers -- acknowledged secret intelligence authority and Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist -- trace a history of brilliant successes, ghastly failures, and gripping uncertainties. They range from the exploits of "Wild Bill" Donovan during World War II, to the CIA’s elaborate cold war struggles with the KGB, to debates about the role of secret intelligence in the post–cold war world. Here too are analyses of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Kennedy assassination, William Casey’s years as CIA director under Ronald Reagan, the Aldrich Ames scandal, and such urgent contemporary issues as whether the CIA is up to the challenge of defending America against terrorism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A remarkable, twisted tapestry of intrigue." --Ron Rosenbaum -- The New York Observer, February 24, 2003

"Essential wartime reading" -- The New York Times Book Review

"Indispensable...Powers brilliantly conveys the ethos and culture of intelligence agencies." -- The Washington Post

"It's not just that Mr. Powers knows the material; he knows what to make of it." -- Dallas Morning News

"The most reflective writing on intelligence" -- The Boston Globe

From the Author

"Think of the CIA's files as the nation's unconscious. There you may find the evidence, like the gouges on rock where a glacier has passed, of what American leaders really thought, really wanted, and really did--important clues to who we are as a people."
--Thomas Powers

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: New York Review of Books; 1St Edition edition (December 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590170237
• ISBN-13: 978-1590170236
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,368,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A trip down American security policy memory lane, June 9, 2003

By 

Dean S. Warren (Altamonte Springs,, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaeda (Hardcover)

I'm writing this to counter the troglodytish review posted by the unnamed reader from Alexandria, Virginia. My career was in the national security establishment--defense industry and State Department. I, along with Forrester, also have "no connection or history within the intelligence world." The New York Review of Books serves intellectuals like myself, however, not intelligence professionals. As such, his reviews and this book provides a timely refresher course in the scandals and triumphs of American intelligence over the last some sixty years. It is especially welcome because of the arrival of more scandal in regard to 9/11 and Iraq weapons of mass destruction, and another triumph in the defeat of the Taliban. INTELLIGENCE WARS is stimulating, well written, and engrossing.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting cold war history, weak on modern intelligence., August 29, 2004

By 

B. Williams (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaeda (Hardcover)

Despite the alluring subtitle boasting coverage from Hitler to Al-Qaeda, the bulk of the book (likely from the first edition - delineation of new material is not clear) is dedicated to cold war spying issues and the Soviet Union. Many of the stories covered of that time are done so in great detail, sometimes overly monotonous. As the book moves on, I was hoping to learn more about American intelligence efforts in other theaters, but the material is limited. Hitler, South American and the Middle East pre-9/11 are all given little attention and scant new information is available, even for a moderate follower of the subject. Further, as the coverage shifts more to the modern day and the post-9/11 world, the book takes on a sanctimonious tone on what, based on earlier writings on the subject, would still be considered limited information from the intelligence world. Material that likely makes up the revised edition appears sounds more of Monday morning quarterbacking thrown together quickly to take advantage of the current public interest.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Collection of Reviews from Powers, April 4, 2005

By 

David W. Southworth (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intelligence Wars: American Secret History from Hitler to Al-Qaeda (New York Review Collections) (Paperback)

This revised and expanded collection of Thomas Powers' reviews of books on intelligence and national security for the New York Review of Books is an excellent resource on a wide range of topics. Powers has a demonstrated knowledge of many aspects of the history of US intelligence gathering since World War II, and he shows it in this collection.

Beginning with a review of the life of Billy Donovan, the progenitor of WWII American espionage, and ending with a review of books on the current threat from international terrorism, Powers covers a broad spectrum of topics. Though he is much stronger on the Cold War history, the author is able to bring his background in history to comment on current threats. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in national security and the intelligence world.