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A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency Paperback – August 31, 2004

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Richard Helms (Author)
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Richard Helms (Author), William Hood (Author), Henry A. Kissinger (Foreword)
4.2 out of 5 stars 23 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Presidio Press; Revised ed. edition (August 31, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812971086
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812971088
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsSometimes Bland, But Priceless Collection of Gems
By Robert David STEELE Vivas HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on May 24, 2003
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Richard Helms is, after Allen Dulles, arguably the most significant US spymaster and intelligence manager in history. It is a fortunate circumstance that he overcame his reluctance to publish anything at all, and worked with the trusted William Hood, whose own books are remarkable, to put before the public a most useful memoire.

Below are a few of the gems that I find worth noting, and for which I recommend the book as a unique record:

1) Puts forward elegant argument for permissive & necessary secrecy in the best interests of the public
2) Defends the CIA culture as highly disciplined--he is persuasive in stating that only Presidents can order covert actions, and that CIA does only the President's direct bidding.
3) Makes it clear in passing, not intentionally, that his experience as both a journalist and businessman were essential to his ultimate success as a spymaster and manager of complex intelligence endeavors--this suggests that one reason there is "no bench" at CIA today is because all the senior managers have been raised as cattle destined to be veal: as young entry on duty people, brought up within the bureaucracy, not knowing how to scrounge sources or meet payroll...
4) Compellingly discusses the fact that intelligence without counterintelligence is almost irrelevant if not counterproductive, but then glosses over some of the most glaring counterintelligence failures in the history of the CIA--interestingly, he defends James Angleton and places the blame for mistreating Nosenko squarterly on the Soviet Division leadership in the Directorate of Operations.
5) Points out that it was Human Intelligence (HUMINT), not Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), that first found the Soviet missiles in Cuba.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsRevealing: politics is personal, too
By Bruce P. Barten on February 13, 2004
Format: Hardcover
This book is not afraid to look at fundamental problems in the area of intelligence, which America today is finding amazingly similar to the problems that Richard Helms observed in Germany immediately after World War Two. Helms was uniquely qualified to see the big picture, having been a newspaper reporter who had lunch with Adolf Hitler (Chapter 2 is called `Lunch with Adolf') the day of a big rally in Nuremberg in 1936, a privilege that Americans willing to spend a thousand dollars a plate to attend a fundraiser with American presidents more recently might be jealous of, if being a millionaire is not enough to make them happy. Henry Kissinger was happy to report in the Foreword that Helms was even invited to lunch with President Nixon after an early NSC meeting. (p. xi). There is even a picture of the famous Tuesday lunch group with LBJ, Rusk, Clark Clifford, General Wheeler, Walt Rostow, George Cushman and Walt Johnson. There is even a picture of a lunch with Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush with the caption, "At lunch in the Vice President's office. Aside from George Washington, the elder George Bush is the only President who had firsthand knowledge of the intelligence world."
The Preface reports that February 2, 1973, was the day James Schlesinger was sworn in as head of CIA and Richard Helms lost the position which was his main claim to fame. Richard Nixon had something to do with it, and Chapter 1, `A Smoking Gun' reports enough about the Watergate break-in to give the CIA perspective from the top, and ends with "Five months later, and a few days after his reelection, President Nixon called me to Camp David. It was the last time we spoke while he was in office." (p. 13).Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsVery open and convincing read
By R. Marten on February 26, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Helms seems to be very detailed in his history of CIA from WW2, Truman administration thru Nixon/Ford administrations. Of course, as most reviewers note, how much is believable depends on readers preconceived opinions. Some of the book drags because he describes so many different personalities in the CIA and the world that he had to deal with, along with so much red tape. This book has SO much more information that was ignored by Allen Dulles' book (published in the mid '60's).

I like how he didn't shy away from explaining U2 flights as much as he could, addressing Cuba/Castro interactions, Vietnam, and JFK assassination. One of the reasons I find that Helms is believable is that he admits that Vietnam history was unknown or ignored by everybody, Vietnam was not like Korea-they had been fighting for independence for 2000 years. Hindsight told him that Vietnam would NEVER had surrendered. I do find his support for J. Edgar Hoover disturbing, even maintaining that Hoover wasn't homosexual (homosexuality was Hoover's least important flaw). In Helms' defense, he probably didn't have to deal with Hoover much since CIA is responsible for everything outside of FBI's jurisdiction.

I believe his main purpose in writing this book is to absolutely stress how the CIA is a tool of the administration; President and at least some in Congress are aware and dictate everything that CIA attempts to do. There has been too much discussion on how the CIA does everything secretly on their own without any rules - he's trying to set the record straight in that the Agency has always followed the orders of the current administration.

I think that he is convincing with his details, some failures and some successes during his tenure.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

good book

Published 1 month ago by Michael Rowley
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

very pleased

Published 5 months ago by Bill Legere
2.0 out of 5 starsterrible read

Terrrible book. Not only poorly written but I can't understand why someone in his position would write about such uninteresting trivia. Read more

Published 5 months ago by No G.
4.0 out of 5 starsGood read

A great man. Truly a hero

Published 7 months ago by Gilbert Kleiff
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great

Published 10 months ago by Harold T. Walker
4.0 out of 5 starsA good read from the man who 'kept the secrets'

I enjoyed this read from a man who admitted he never thought he'd write a memoir. Helms was a gentleman spy, a man who never violated the code, even getting himself charged with... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Harry Pandolfino
4.0 out of 5 starsI was looking for more from the later years like LBJ and the Kennedy...

I was looking for more from the later years like LBJ and the Kennedy era ,did not give much of an insight into Watergate and I didn't believe his view . Read more

Published 14 months ago by Mrs. J. Norman
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Insightful and well-written; however, the truth that he saw may not be the truth that others saw.

Published 16 months ago by Richard Burke
5.0 out of 5 starsDown to business

Former Director Richard Helms gets down to business and admiringly stays there in his memoir, “A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Yaakov (James) Mosher
5.0 out of 5 starsA splendidly written account

The book is splendidly written -- very accessible, very good flow. Well-crafted all-around. It's a highly interesting account of not only an interesting career but it's a good... Read more

Published on March 29, 2014 by Mandingo

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