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Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and the Secrets that Destroyed Two of the Cold War's Most Important Agents 1st Edition

by David C. Martin (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 15 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1585748242
ISBN-10: 1585748242
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (July 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1585748242
  • ISBN-13: 978-1585748242
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #866,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsThe contagious paranoia of counterintelligence...
By Cindy Stevens on December 31, 2005
The term, "wilderness of mirrors," is still used today in counterintelligence circles to denote the feelings of paranoia that sometimes develop in the byzantine business of spyhunting, when one is no longer able to distinguish between what is real and what is illusion. When conjuring up images of this precise phenomenon, no name rings louder than that of James Jesus Angleton, who himself was enveloped and ultimately destroyed by his obsession with uncovering a "mole" within the CIA.

Martin's brief account of the CIA's largely unsuccessful efforts to spy on the Soviet Union during the Cold War alternates between the stories of "Jim" Angleton and "Bill" Harvey, two CIA trailblazers who undoubtedly left their marks in their profession. What's unfortunate is that while they may have scored some early successes, they spent the latter parts of their careers in shambles, with both resigning under hostile circumstances. Especially in Angleton's case, it is tough to objectively determine whether he did more good than bad.

For a more detailed account of the CI fiasco involving Angleton, Golitsin, and Nosenko, check out David Wise's "Molehunt."
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4.0 out of 5 starsHelp! The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum!!!
By F. S. L'hoir VINE VOICE on August 16, 2005
This book, which relates the ongoing war between the CIA and the KGB, focuses on the activities of William K. Harvey, a gun-totin' ex-FBI agent (who does not seem to have entirely evolved in a social sense), and James Jesus Angleton, a Yale graduate who lived first in Italy and then in England, where he learned the fine arts of counter-espionage at the knees, as it were, of Kim Philby, and was in charge of counter-espionage at the CIA. The revelation that the latter was a KGB penetration agent in British Intelligence seems to have engendered extreme paranoia in the former, who was ever after on the lookout for moles in the Agency (and was even suspected by some of his colleagues of being one himself).

The tales of covert operations range from the amusing (an agent loitering in a park to make a dead-letter drop being arrested as a potential child molester) to the appalling (the dastardly enticement of the Soviet defector Yuri Nosenko with promises of a salaried job and then keeping him in what was tantamount to a cage for 1277 days (292 of which were devoted to interrogation) [p, 171], all because of the dubious word of Anatoli Golitsin, a previous defector--living high off the hog at taxpayer expense--who warned that the next defector would be a KGB plant.). Angleton placed his faith unstintingly in Golitsin, whose wild scenarios had Averell Harriman, a former United States ambassador to the Soviet Union, cast as a KGB agent. It never seems to have occurred to Angleton that Golitsin may have been the KGB plant, intent on making mischief.

The title, "Wilderness of Mirrors," was apparently coined by Angleton, who was a poet in his spare time. It refers to the labyrinthine world of espionage into which one is "lured deeper and deeper ...Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsWatching the Watchers
By Retired Reader on March 21, 2008
Verified Purchase
Since its establishment in 1947, CIA has enjoyed some modest successes as an agent for regime change, but does not to appear to have been a very effective intelligence agency. Yet during the first 25 years of its existence under the freewheeling influence of the many WWII Office of Strategic Services (OSS) veterans who formed its original cadre, it certainly seems to have been an interesting place to work. Indeed its halls were apparently filled with interesting and colorful characters who may or may not have been very good intelligence officers, but who were never boring. This very good book provides the story of two such characters who were at the heart of the CIA counterintelligence program.

James Jesus Angleton was clearly CIA material with his WWII OSS experience, Ivy League education, and international background. Yet he was also by all accounts one the strangest intelligence officers CIA ever recruited. An orchid growing intellectual, Angleton began his long involvement with counterintelligence with the OSS under the tutorship of Kim Philby, who even then was a Soviet mole. He appeared to thrive on the intellectual challenges presented by convoluted and complex work that was counterintelligence. From the first he applied himself to seeking out Soviet agents within CIA with the passion and zealotry of a Jesuit converting a heretic. In the end his efforts failed to find real evidence of Soviet penetration of CIA, but in the notorious `mole' search he initiated succeeded in virtually destroying its ability to run clandestine operations against the Soviets. Ironically for all his zeal, Angleton was unable to recognize that his mentor and friend Philby was a Soviet plant in heart of the delicate U.S. and UK intelligence relationship.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsGreat starting point for CIA cold war knowledge
By J. Black on May 29, 2010
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I found myself wanting to know more about the beginnings of the CIA as well as their cold war exploits. This book was recommended to me by a friend and is a good starting point to find out about some of the key players in the US intelligence of previous years. There isn't much about background or the beginnings of the CIA, this book is more of a character study of two men, James Jesus Angelton, who most people are familiar with and William Harvey, whom most people seem not to know(including me at the time). It is an interesting tale of how two men got so wrapped up in their own ego's as well as paranoia that they brought CIA intelligence operations to a halt. It also paints the CIA as an agency without a clear direction and poorly managed. This book had the effect that all good non-fiction books have on me, it casued me to do more research on the events and people in the book. Great read if you want to see the effect 2 men can have on an agency but don't expect a broad history of the CIA.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFascinating and authoritive

Fascinating and authoritive potted history of the CIA.

Published 15 days ago by ben
4.0 out of 5 starsThe Central "Intelligence" Agency

Wilderness of Mirrors is a succinct and engrossing account of the Cold War battle of wits between the CIA and the KGB. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Spailpin Fanach
5.0 out of 5 starsGood primer

Fun read, not much depth.

Published 7 months ago by William Scott
3.0 out of 5 starsShocking

Not easy reading re style, but stunning in content: the millions and millions spent on projects (Berlin Tunnel) etc. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Glenda White
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent book

Outstanding book. Makes you rethink everything you thought you knew. How can anyone possibly relax after reading this fascinating book.

Published 19 months ago by Jerry G. Cole
5.0 out of 5 starsif angleton was the mole, then did he set up jfk's killing-- by the...

this is an important book, but of course it leaves the unknowable its due. perhaps even in 1963 the answers were unknowable. Read more

Published on January 17, 2014 by trastevere
5.0 out of 5 starsWilderness

As a Senior at University this book has helped me to write better papers with excellent references and has shown me a different way of looking at a world that most Americans never... Read more

Published on January 1, 2014 by Evy Wareing
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book

Definitely a classic. Inspires me to do further reading on Angleton. I found the Philby section quite interesting. Read more

Published on January 27, 2013 by Jonathan Harding
4.0 out of 5 starsSensationlized, but maybe not fullt factual

There were some "juicy" bits but this was not an unbiased approach. I bought the book to get a contrasting view of JJA, but wound up with a more "novel" approach. Read more

Published on October 17, 2008 by JMC
5.0 out of 5 starsgood book for serious assassination buffs

This is the best CIA book according to old CIA hands.
It doesn't tell you that the CIA people planned the JFK assassination,.... Read more

Published on August 31, 2008 by conrad finklestein

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