Customer Reviews

The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I almost broke two fountain pens on this book, and that is close to my highest compliment. Depending on one's mood, it will move any person with a deep knowledge of intelligence to tears or laughter. This is a really superior detailed look at the men that set the tone for clandestine operations in the 20th century: "Patriotic, decent, well-meaning, and brave, they were also uniquely unsuited to the grubby, necessarily devious world of intelligence." From card file mentalities to Chiefs of Station not speaking the language, to off-the-cuff decision making and a refusal to include CIA analysts in strategic deliberations, this is an accurate and important study that has not gotten the attention it merits from the media or the oversight staffs.

This book was a required read for a college course that I took on the CIA & Congress. I found this to be an excellent book - full of substance, loaded with information, and a very easy read. Thomas's book was one of the very few required reads that I've actually completed of my own accord. I highly recommend this book to those who are looking for an in-depth study on the inner workings of the CIA's beginnings.

What a great book. If you find the CIA fascinating, then this is a must read. In fact, if you find your country fascinating, you must read this book.

This isn't your typical James Bond, Tom Clancy sort of thing. Get the real stories in just about the perfect amount of detail. The characters are easy to follow and the scenarios do not require a history refresher course to delve into.

The "Four" who did dare are all geniuses and each has played a part in making sure you sleep well at night. Each person is handled deftly and the book follows in a natural chronological order.

The most fascinating part of the book definitely revolves around the Kennedy administration and Bay of Pigs fiasco. Once again, the politics of politics can turn something so clear into a mess.

The best part of the book is that it handles bigger and smaller points equally well. There are many, oh by the way type quick tales, but the larger campaigns are also handled extremely well. You will find yourself paraphrasing stories and anecdotes from this book to your friends. Great after dinner discussion stuff.

Top of my list for recommendation.

Evans crafted a book that doesn't fall into non-fiction traps. Many non-fiction works miss the mark when it comes to drawing a reader in to a book about the Cold War. They show that the OUTRIGGER program was funded at $XX millions and opposed by X liberals in Congress but it collected Y amount of information from the Stassi.
Those are trivial and boring works.
This one doesn't miss at all -- it's a bullseye.
Evan Thomas' The Very Best Men reads like a thriller. You become wrapped up in the lives of Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes and Desmond Fitzgerald and their early work in America's CIA.
Evans' book isn't just a flag waiver. There are low points, and political failures. Notably the Bay of Pigs and the tragic life of Frank Wisner.
One note: I read Robert Littell's The Company before I read this book, and I see where his characters are drawn from. What order is up to you, but if you are a fan of CIA/spy plots, then I'd read both books together for enjoyment.

They will never return it. It is that good of a book. Starts with introduction on how these men started it from WWII and walks the reader through the history of how it all got started.

4 and a half stars out of 5. I got this book, for background on some persons who were associates of my uncle in the OSS during WW II. That was the forerunner to the CIA. I have nearly 40 books about the OSS, as reference for a book I'm writing about my uncle. Although this book by Evan Thomas is not primarily about the OSS, it is one of my best sources. Clearly written, fairly easy to read, very interesting insights, detailed characters and personalities, with invaluable content that I have not found elsewhere.

This is an interesting insight into the early days of the CIA. Essentially, all the stories of the "good-ol'-boys" networks and philandering are true. The read, however, is extremely interesting as are the blunders which happened frequently during the CIA's youth.

this is a well written, insightful gem of a book covers the four major figures who defined the early years of CIA. their strengths, their bravado, their naivate, their luck - it's all here. more than just a history, there's a bit of understanding, as well, and some analysis. this book cuts through the cruft and to the meat of the story.

the company's changed a lot since then, but it's important to know where it came from. read this and you'll learn the foundations of that history, and america's second half of the 20th century, as well.

This book is, at best, cr@p. Try not to read it. The protagonist, Wisner, and his cronies portray a "high society" crowd throwing dinner parties in which detailed policy was discussed among the elite, leading to actual policy and / or government action in later years, once they acquire requisite power to act. This is pure B.S., reflecting on past accomplishments through rose colored glasses. I admire the author for trying to take on the subject but please try to come at it from a slightly more objective perspective next time. Keegan's work on the world wars, Halberstam on Vietnam, among others are good examples of authors who spent years researching all possible angles and contributions to historical events. I could have "made up" a more credible story about the formation of the CIA.

Evan- Great book. Digger Donahu