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Joseph John Trento

The Secret History of the CIA Paperback – Bargain Price, January 4, 2005

by Joseph J. Trento (Author)

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Joseph J. Trentos character-driven history of the flawed and often destructive Central Intelligence Agency profiles the men and women who have run the agency from its inception up to the present era. Trento uses his formidable reporting skills to guide the reader through the agencys most important successes and failures, from its earliest role as opponent of the Soviet empire to its later functions during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War. As the facts pile up, the CIA proves itself to be an organization plagued by alcoholism, antagonism, and bureaucracy. The result of more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews with spies and double agents, The Secret History of the CIA penetrates the carefully orchestrated culture of secrecy that has allowed the agency to suffer from the weaknesses of its highest members, away from the medias scrutiny. Reaching conclusions that are as astonishing as they are impossible to dismiss, this is a fascinating introduction to some of the most colorful and deceitful personalities in the history of our nation, and one that will forever alter every readers awareness not just of our intelligence services but also of contemporary American history. Numerous photographs are included.

Print length

560 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

January 4, 2005
Dimensions

9.05 x 5.94 x 1.52 inches
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"With The Secret History of the CIA, Joe Trento totally penetrated the CIA."

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002GJU3O6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (January 4, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.65 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.05 x 5.94 x 1.52 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,742,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,764 in Political Intelligence
- #15,310 in Deals in Books
- #20,572 in U.S. Political Science

Customer Reviews:
62 ratings

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5 star		65%
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3 star		9%
2 star		2%
1 star		7%

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Gregory G Smith

The Secret Nazi History of the CIA

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2019

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If we are to believe Joseph Trento, then the CIA was founded based on at least one massive coverup: James Jesus Angleton’s agreement with Allen Dulles not to do security checks and polygraphs on Allen Dulles and his 60 clients that did business with Hitler (along with covering up the help of a lot of Nazis themselves, particularly Reinhard Gehlen).

One person found this helpful

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mike6

CIA back story

Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2021

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While dated this is a well done account of how the CIA was created and its struggles during the early years. I found it enjoyable and absorbing. I wish the author would revise it and have a new edition come out. We know more today than when it was released in 2005. Overall a good place to start if you want to know about the CIA.

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Francesco Lovecchio

October 1943, Liutenatn Orlov is behind the enemy lines

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2005

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Trento's book is an interesting and verisimilar account of how CIA has worked on some of its cases from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War. It does not provide an analysis of the CIA'style or policies in carrying out its job, but it describes operations that have been conducted and the feelings of those who worked as operatives. Since the author relies on two sources of his, who have worked mainly in the Berlin Operating Base, much of the stories are centered on that area with few digressions in other parts of the world according to postings of his sources. The book develops its arguments on different levels and with exhausting flashbacks, so the reader has to go back and forth to disentangle the plot and make a synthesis. However, one of the main character of the book is agent Orlov, a Soviet agent who managed at the end of WWI to be infiltrated in the Nazis and then in the American forces without being discovered until his death decades later in the Washington area. Other episodes are revealed that would make the interested reader in spy stories very into the action. However, two weak spots of the book are: Trento does not provide other reliable sources than hearsays from his own sources, therefore no proof is underpinning the stories. Secondly, the book does not reveal any important facts that would make it really revealing or astonishing, like would have been if he had mentioned something related to the now well known stay-behind operation in Europe. But if you are able to maintain your "suspension of belief" and navigate between the thin line that separates non-fiction from quasi-fiction stories Trento's book is readable and interesting.

15 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Incompetence shocking

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2018

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Very interesting. I wish more of the public were aware of info contained in this book.

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Sam Clemens

The Usual "Langley" Apologetics

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2014

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The books "Legacy of Ashes" and "The Company" are written in an accessible style, but are fatally unreliable. It was extremely telling to me a couple of years ago for me to observe that they both omit the mention of the Kennedy assassination, one of the most critical (and watershed) events in the mid-20th century. "The Secret History" initially seemed an improvement, and I found myself very engaged by the first few chapters, e.g., in its description of Soviet NKVD activities at the dawn of Cold War history, and the American intelligence recruitment of hundreds of former Nazi covert operatives during the arguably criminal "Operation Paperclip."

Yet, it became readily apparent that the author is merely feigning a serious critique of the "Agency." The book jumps all over the place (with an informal "hearsay" type style, and less than sufficient documentation), and contains many errors. And, lies by omission and commission. Obviously, I had to turn to Chapter 34 to examine Trento's "take" on the Kennedy assassination (as implied above, generally a good "acid-test" of reliability of a work on American intelligence, particularly one purporting to accurately cover the fifties and sixties period). Lo and behold, the author reveals himself as just one more "Langley" asset. This dude displays the effrontery of intimating that the Soviets and/or Castro were responsible for the covert operation in Dealey Plaza which abruptly and violently removed a sitting American president, when--immediately after the ambush in Dealey Plaza--it was obvious that the SS, FBI, Army intelligence had done nothing to prevent the murder, which screamed out--minimally--criminal negligence.

At this stage of the game it is utterly apparent that American intelligence (and the "national security apparatus") was--at bottom--the true power which removed both Kennedy brothers. John Kennedy stood for a radical change in official gov't policy. With Johnson, the Powers that Be were once again safe, and $ millions filled the coffers of the defense industry and the intelligence community, and we had a replay of the WWI and WWII (and Korean War) messes, as many American boys became cannon fodder during the thoroughly disastrous (and undeclared) Vietnam War, even as Alan Dulles and certain American companies, such as Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Shell Oil and ITT had supported the Nazi regime. For a good "running start," see "JFK and the Unspeakable," "Mary's Mosaic" and Peter Dale Scott's "Deep Politics and the Death of JFK." To blithely blame the Russians or Cubans suggests a case of clinical stupidity or Much More Likely, intentional disinformation. Profoundly disappointing.

A fellow reviewer says:
"But when Mr. Trento attempts to address the assassination of President Kennedy by framing it as a Soviet operation via Cuba, I realized the facts presented here are so contrary to the evidence it became impossible for me to read anything further. It couldn't be worse if his history of CIA included Columbus' arriving in New York aboard a nuclear submarine in 1492." Bulls-eye!!!

More errors and lies!! Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby, a high-ranking member of British intelligence and high-ranking CIA figure James J. Angleton's mentor and close friend, is prominently mentioned, yet the second Huge Error of this terminally flawed tome is that there is not a trace of the revelation of his role as a "double agent," and his defection to the USSR before he could be apprehended in 1963. Talk about a Glaring Omission!!! ; )

27 people found this helpful

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joseph

Wow

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2013

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Literally one of the best reads of my life. The information in here is so relevant and on-hands. I learnt things about the CIA that I never would have known otherwise. I feel like a spy with all the information I have.

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2014

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Book was received in great condition

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2015

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Great Book. Easy read.

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Al Gor 54

A whitewash

Reviewed in Germany on May 18, 2017

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This book is a whitewash, for lack of a better word, not a revealing "inside" story about the Agency, but more of an apologist's version of the real CIA. Want the truth? You will not find it here, although it does give a decent, official version, what I call the "glamorous" side of the Agency, the sexy, virtually squeaky clean CIA we've come to learn about and love over the years.

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