Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs [Hardcover]

Richard Bissell Jr. (Author), Professor Jonathan E. Lewis (Contributor), Frances T. Pudlo (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 1996

In this revealing memoir, the CIA's most important spymaster provides an insider's view of American intelligence activities during a pivotal period in history. The author tells of the personalities, policies, and historical forces that influenced events while he was in charge of the development of the U-2 spy-plane, the Corona spy satellite, the infamous Bay of Pigs operation, and other covert CIA operations and discusses the lessons that were learned during the Cold War.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Richard M. Bissel Jr. followed the preferred path to spy superstardom: Groton, Yale, military service in World War II, and a stint helping to write the Marshall Plan, followed by time as an operative and then as an assistant to Allen Dulles, director of the CIA. In 1959, he assumed the reigns as head of the agency's covert operations. But his career ran into a brick wall with the ill-fated Bay of Pigs operation. In Reflections of a Cold Warrior, Bissell, who died in 1994, recounts his involvement in operations ranging from the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Guatemala to the creation of the U-2 spy plane project to the fiasco in Cuba.

From Publishers Weekly

For decades, Bissell had a reputation as the smartest person in Washington, D.C. Unrecognized by most citizens, he was a celebrity among the foreign-policy elite. He played a role in formulating the Marshall Plan. He drafted CIA operations from his Ford Foundation perch in the early 1950s, then joined the spy agency in 1954, serving during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Although he kept a low profile even in retirement, Bissell eventually began working on this memoir when he was 81, enlisting the help of two younger confidantes, Lewis and Pudlo, and it was almost finished when he died four years later in 1994. Although the writing style is at times stilted, the memoir is refreshing in its apologetic hindsight. Bissell admits his and his government's mistakes in the U-2 spy plane missions over the Soviet Union and in the Bay of Pigs invasion. Ironically, though, what could have made headlines thanks to Bissell's candor has been diluted by the publication last year of Evan Thomas's The Very Best Men, about the CIA's early history. Bissell's family generously gave Thomas access to this unpublished manuscript, and Thomas mined many of the nuggets. Bissell's version is worth reading anyway for its insights into the links between bureaucratic process and government policy. Even enemies of the CIA are likely to be engaged by Bissell's unpretentious voice and periodic admissions of fallibility.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300064306
• ISBN-13: 978-0300064308
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,049,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bissell's own account, October 18, 2005

By 

ZRRIFLE (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs (Hardcover)

Although not real well-known, those who have studied modern American history, mainly in the intelligence sector, have seen Richard Bissell's name associated with the Marshall Plan, the U-2 spy plane, and the Bay of Pigs, to name a few. It's refreshing to get first-hand account from Bissell himself, and how he shares some of the key events during the last century in which he played a big part.

The chapter of the Marshall Plan I found a bit tedious, mainly because it delves deeply into economics; that was Bissell's specialty. If you're into economics and the theory behind it, you'll love that chapter, as he goes into detail and the machinations of what went on behind the scenes during that post-WWII period of reconstructing Europe. The chapters on the U-2 and Bay of Pigs I found very enlightening. You always hear it from second or third hand sources, which many times present it from a dark or conspiratorial point of view. But to hear it told by Bissell, and how they all came to be, is worth the price of the book. The persistence he possessed (and was a big part of his character) is evident in his successes and demands put on him during the Cold War. Also, the day-by-day (or even hour-by-hour) details of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and why it failed, is worth studying. Although I feel Bissell shouldn't be blamed for it's failure, he does in fact take responsibility for it, and readily admits it, as well as his shortcomings (several times in the book, actually). I don't know if it was necessary to repeat it so many times, but perhaps he just wanted to set things straight.

Bissell admits he was a bit presumptuous at times in his judgment during those times, however he seemed to have learned from his experiences and mistakes, and there is no arrogance in the way he lays it out. What you see is a humble genius simply telling it from his point of view, someone who had a big, extremely important role in the 20th century, yet avoided the spotlight.

He was, in effect, as Evan Thomas so aptly titled the book written about Bissell, Wisner, Barnes, and Fitzgerald - one of "The Very Best Men."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bissell on the Cold War, June 2, 2010

By 

Gus Venegas (Cocoa, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections of a Cold Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs (Hardcover)

This book, published two years after his death in 1994, describes Richard Bissell's career from the OSS during WWII, thru the Marshall Plan, on to the CIA during the Cold War. It is an ideal read for cloak and dagger types and military aircraft buffs. Bissell helped in the development of the U-2 in a record twenty months, also the A-12 (the predecessor of the SR-71, and the start up of reconnaissance satellites. He was also instrumental in CIA black operations in Guatemala and Cuba. A smart but also humble man that was responsible for planning the Bay of Pigs, Bissell takes responsibility for his deficient Bay of Pigs planning- underestimating Castro's resources, and excessively optimistic military assessment, such as the feasibility of a retreat to the far away Escambray mountains as a contingency, during the failed landing in Cuba.