From the Field

by Charles McCarry

A selection of articles and other writings from the one-hundred-year history of National Geographic includes contributions by Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, Joseph Conrad, Amelia Earhart, Jane Goodall, and Sir Edmund Hillary

Genres: Travel

456 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

McCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, was a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA, under deep cover in Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, his cover was not as a writer or journalist.

McCarry was editor-at-large for National Geographic and contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national publications.

McCarry was best known for a series of books concerning the life of American spy Paul Christopher. Born in Germany before WWII to a German mother and an American father, Christopher joins the CIA after the war and becomes one of its most effective spies. After launching an unauthorized investigation of the Kennedy assassination, Christopher becomes a pariah to the agency. The books are notable for their historical detail and depiction of spycraft, as well as their careful and extensive examination of Christopher's relationship with his family, friends, wives, and lovers.

Otto Penzler of The Mysterious Bookshop has called McCarry's The Miernik Dossier the greatest espionage novel ever written. McCarry was also a favorite of critics at The Wall Street Journal.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything from Nat. Geo. is worthy of reading. Have a go at this. I didn't read every entry, but there's something for everyone here.