The Invisible Government

by David Wise, Thomas B. Ross

Random House published The Invisible Government by David Wise & Thomas Ross in 1964, exposing the role the CIA was playing in foreign policy. This included the coups in Guatemala (Operation PBSUCCESS) & Iran (Operation Ajax) & the Bay of Pigs operation. It also revealed the CIA's attempts to overthrow President Sukarno in Indonesia & the covert operations taking place in Laos & Vietnam. The CIA considered buying up its entire printing. This idea was rejected when Random House pointed out that if this happened they would print a 2nd edition
The invisible government
48 hours
Build-up
Invasion
The case of the Birmingham widows
A history
Burma: the innocent ambassador
Indonesia: "soldiers of fortune"
Laos: the pacifist warriors
Vietnam: the secret war
Guatemala: CIA's banana revolt
The Kennedy shake-up
The secret elite
The National Security Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency
CIA: "it's well hidden"
CIA: the inner workings
The search for control
Purity in the Peace Corps
A gray operator
Missle crisis
Electronic spies
Black radio
CIA's guano paradise-The 1960 campaign-& now
A conclusion

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Espionage, Conspiracy Theories, World History, Crime

375 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

From Wikipedia:
«David Wise (May 10, 1930 – October 8, 2018) was an American journalist and author who worked for the New York Herald-Tribune in the 1950s and 1960s, and published a series of non-fiction books on espionage and US politics as well as several spy novels. His book The Politics of Lying: Government Deception, Secrecy, and Power (1973) won the George Polk Award (Book category, 1973), and the George Orwell Award (1975).»

Most of his books were non-fiction examinations of espionage and U.S. politics. According to his obituary in the New York Times, “He also wrote three spy novels, which were praised for their insight and authority.” Those novels include:
• Spectrum, 1981
• The Children's Game , 1983
• Samarkand Dimension , 1987

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I presume my dad purchased this book when it came out in '64. In any case, it was up at his mother's cottage in Michigan the next summer. Being a fan of Ian Fleming's James Bond books and being only a junior high schooler, I was drawn to it.

This was the first serious book I ever read about the espionage establishments of the U.S.A. and was, with its revelations of the illegal activities of our government, quite an eye-opener. It probably contributed to my transition from being an apologist for U.S. foreign policy to becoming a critic.

Most of the text is about the C.I.A., but the N.S.A., D.I.A. and other spy agencies are discussed as well.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good exposé on the CIA's early shenanigans.

[Bill Yancey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outdated info on 1960s CIA operations. Intriguing. Wish I had read it in 1964. The insights into the history of the CIA and some of its failures, including the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, the coup in Vietnam, and U.S. actions in Burma and Indonesia were enlightening. Great history, written almost as it happened.

[Timothy Champney · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the press about NSA is really nothing new.

[Feliks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic reference. Just astounding.