Spying for America: The Hidden History of U.S. Intelligence (Paperback)

~ (Author) "John Honeyman was an unlikely spy..." (more)
Key Phrases: mandated islands, secret service fund, counterintelligence operations, United States, New York, Van Deman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Miller seeks to correct the common wisdom that U.S. military intelligence didn't amount to much until WW II. His chronicle begins with an account of George Washington as spymaster during the Revolutionary War. Although he demythologizes such supposed paragons as Nathan Hale and Belle Boyd, Miller takes an admiring look at some of the men and women who performed valuable service with a minimum of government support. After reaching its low point during the Mexican-American War (the War Department sent the campaigners a map of Mexico torn from an atlas), U.S. military intelligence entered its professional era during the Spanish-American War with Ralph Van Deman's intelligence bureau. Calling him the father of modern intelligence, Miller points out in passing that Van Deman also initiated the kind of domestic snooping that has led to civil-rights infringements ever since. Other pre-WW II figures include Herbert O. Yardley, whose code-breaking service during the 1920s was abruptly shut down by Secretary of State Henry Stimson with the immortal comment that gentlemen do not read each other's mail. The book's take on U.S. intelligence activities through WW II to the Iran- contra affair is adequate but undistinguished. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A very readable and comprehensive overview of the use of intelligence since the American Revolution, written by a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun . Beginning with the well-known tale of John Honeyman and ending with Oliver North, the narrative is straightforward, and the coverage is comprehensive and well focused. While no new ground is broken, it provides an excellent starting point for the neophyte and is sufficiently annotated to provide access to more detailed studies. The first half of the book treats the use of intelligence to support military operations. The second half looks at intelligence in the postwar period with the major emphasis on covert operations. An excellent history.
- George W. Price, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington , D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 491 pages
• Publisher: Marlowe & Company; 2 edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569247218
• ISBN-13: 978-1569247211
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,310,035 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spying for America, May 10, 2000

By A Customer

This book is a most excellent read. It is good for people casually interested in espionage and those with more background in it. One of the most overlooked areas was the periods between the world wars and the late 19th Century which is well treated. It is also written in a fast paced style that is never boring. I highly recommend this book. I have several other books by the author after reading this one and have been impressed with them all. A definite "can't miss" book.

3 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Multiple true life stories about spies and spying., October 22, 1998

By A Customer

John Wortman p.4 The Fine Art of Spying is a collection of true, and truly amazing, stories written by Somerset Maugham, Anthony Abbott, Winston Churchill, Fletcher Pratt, Alan Hynd, Kurt Singer, and other famous authors. But The Fine Art of Spying would not have come together without the editing of Walter B. Gibson. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about clever and incredible strategies that people use when they find themselves in difficult situations. Although The Fine Art of Spying is a book about the exiting events and missions that certain spies go through, the book does not include 100% concentrated action. So, if you are looking for a pointless, plotless, "everybody dies" novel, (which I DO enjoy reading) I don't recommend this book to you. Otherwise I recommend it to anyone. Although this is a great book, it does have a couple of boring parts. There is a story in The Fine Art of Spying entitled "The Traitor." This is one of the book's less enjoyable stories, in fact, I think it is the worst one in the book. "The Traitor" is about one spy trying to get another spy to work for his network. This may sound okay but it wasn't because the first spy did nothing to persuade the other spy. This makes it bad because there was no conflict and without conflict there is no action. Don't worry, however, there are really only two bad stories. "The Traitor" and "Prisoner in the Legation" are those stories, but I found "Prisoner in the Legation" not to be as boring as "The Traitor." There are, however, many good stories in this book. One of my favorites is called "Encounter at Treasure Island." This story is about an ordinary guy who gets tangled up with some Japanese spies and tries to get on the inside of their network and obtain enough information about them to get them arrested and convicted. The Fine Art of Spying is a great collection of some excellent spy stories. I liked this book because most of the stories were extremely exciting and they told what real people have done in actual situations. Many of the strategies that these people thought of I would not have dreamed of, so my attention was held. Even though the interesting aspects varied from story to story, some stories were very boring, while others almost forced the reader to continue. Over all I highly recommend The Fine Art of Spying.