What do you think?
Rate this book
Honorable Treachery: A History of U.S. Intelligence, Espionage & Covert Action from the American Revolution to the CIA
A comprehensive history of American intelligence, espionage, and covert activities studies an often overlooked aspect of American history from the Revolution to the present
Hardcover
First published November 1, 1991
70 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 2, 2019
Encyclopedic but mind-numbing. To cover the topic O’To0le set out for himself necessarily demands an encyclopedic effort. On a technical level he succeeds.
“We find by fatal experience, the Congress consists of too many members to keep secrets.” John Jay, 1790
Reads like a history book, footnotes and all. Too many biographical personal details about the people and too little about what they did. Published in 1991.
“We failed to anticipate Pearl Harbor not for want of relevant materials, but because of a plethora of irrelevant ones.” “The president’s chief intelligence office, the one person in the government responsible for national intelligence, had not even been told of the existence of Magic.”
The quality and success of American undercover warfare often hinges on the imagination and integrity of leadership. The nation produces no end of creative, dedicated people to ferret out intelligence and do the necessary to defend the nation. Putting it all together and guiding it has been much harder.
“A man of undoubted good intentions, Wilson acted as though his own personal sense of ethics and morality was all America needed to deal with the world.”
O’Toole shows notable restrain in avoiding attacks on personalities, though person such as Woodrow Wilson and J. Edgar Hoover out themselves.
“Reports confirming one’s worst fears or fondest hopes ought to be given the closest scrutiny.” “It is bad Christianity, bad sportsmanship, bad sense to challenge the integrity of the Soviet government.” Joseph E. Davies, American ambassador to the USSR
Wishful thinking is major roadblock to intelligence work as it is to politics, economics, and most every other area of life.
“No one who reviews the events of October 1962 can say that it was not a very, very near thing. But neither can one deny that intelligence may have made the difference between a near thing and nuclear holocaust.”
“We find by fatal experience, the Congress consists of too many members to keep secrets.” John Jay, 1790
Reads like a history book, footnotes and all. Too many biographical personal details about the people and too little about what they did. Published in 1991.
“We failed to anticipate Pearl Harbor not for want of relevant materials, but because of a plethora of irrelevant ones.” “The president’s chief intelligence office, the one person in the government responsible for national intelligence, had not even been told of the existence of Magic.”
The quality and success of American undercover warfare often hinges on the imagination and integrity of leadership. The nation produces no end of creative, dedicated people to ferret out intelligence and do the necessary to defend the nation. Putting it all together and guiding it has been much harder.
“A man of undoubted good intentions, Wilson acted as though his own personal sense of ethics and morality was all America needed to deal with the world.”
O’Toole shows notable restrain in avoiding attacks on personalities, though person such as Woodrow Wilson and J. Edgar Hoover out themselves.
“Reports confirming one’s worst fears or fondest hopes ought to be given the closest scrutiny.” “It is bad Christianity, bad sportsmanship, bad sense to challenge the integrity of the Soviet government.” Joseph E. Davies, American ambassador to the USSR
Wishful thinking is major roadblock to intelligence work as it is to politics, economics, and most every other area of life.
“No one who reviews the events of October 1962 can say that it was not a very, very near thing. But neither can one deny that intelligence may have made the difference between a near thing and nuclear holocaust.”
August 18, 2017
A book about intelligence and covert action that really serves as a kind of military and diplomatic history of the country. I learned a lot.
We always think of espionage and intelligence in Bond-esque terms, but the truth is usually far more prosaic, especially if you go back in history. Even at the time of the Civil War and beyond, intelligence gathering consisted of such nefarious techniques as reading the newspapers in enemy territory.
We always think of espionage and intelligence in Bond-esque terms, but the truth is usually far more prosaic, especially if you go back in history. Even at the time of the Civil War and beyond, intelligence gathering consisted of such nefarious techniques as reading the newspapers in enemy territory.
January 31, 2023
I've just come back home after spending time with Jim who was in the final hours of his life. Jim was 88 and one of my Dad's best friends. I spend the time deep in conversations with his kids as we talked about our shared memories. Dad and Jim were both engineers, highly intelligent and fished together. They both had challenging work environments.
In an era before the internet, they relied a great deal on their friends to understand the world around them and develop solutions to complex problems. I sat through many highly informative meals and drinks afterwards where I got to see the magic happening when really bright people work with new ideas and information.
I found Honorable treachery strangely comforting as so much of it was about remarkable friendships between highly intelligent people. I hadn't really though much about the evolution of "intelligence agencies" in the US but would have assumed that it would have been iterative and steadily evolving over two centuries. What was surprising is just how little continuity there was.
For most of US history it would appear that it was intelligent part-timers, often academics but also a wide range of disciplines that really shone a light on the mystery of other countries and enemies. In many cases when intelligence was needed, it was groups based on freindship which formed the nucleus of new institutions. Or before government saw the need informal clubs and groups who just met and discussed major international issues. I think this is what I most liked about the book, it pays very little attention to the popular culture of spies. It really focuses on "Data management" ie the acquisition, flow and interpretation of information.
In parallel with my recent reading of "The library, A fragile history" the dismantling of institutions after wars, the dispersal of personal, files and information was tragic. We are a short sighted species.
Following also after reading kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird where every character is a Harvard man, this book is filled with Yale and Harvard men. Each time it mentioned another Yale or Harvard man i smiled as I heard Kurts wonderful irony.
I could not help wonder if the trend in third level now of higher fees, less social life, more social media etc is creating shallower learning and friendships and perhaps resulting in fewer of the deep intellectual conversations that are so needed in intelligence gathering and understanding.
I think because of the discussion of the successes and failures through the centuries, it really is a good book to understand just how countries and organizations have to keep humble and questioning themselves otherwise they are likely to make woeful decisions. We definitely have survivor bias in how we look at the world.
A book well worth reading
In an era before the internet, they relied a great deal on their friends to understand the world around them and develop solutions to complex problems. I sat through many highly informative meals and drinks afterwards where I got to see the magic happening when really bright people work with new ideas and information.
I found Honorable treachery strangely comforting as so much of it was about remarkable friendships between highly intelligent people. I hadn't really though much about the evolution of "intelligence agencies" in the US but would have assumed that it would have been iterative and steadily evolving over two centuries. What was surprising is just how little continuity there was.
For most of US history it would appear that it was intelligent part-timers, often academics but also a wide range of disciplines that really shone a light on the mystery of other countries and enemies. In many cases when intelligence was needed, it was groups based on freindship which formed the nucleus of new institutions. Or before government saw the need informal clubs and groups who just met and discussed major international issues. I think this is what I most liked about the book, it pays very little attention to the popular culture of spies. It really focuses on "Data management" ie the acquisition, flow and interpretation of information.
In parallel with my recent reading of "The library, A fragile history" the dismantling of institutions after wars, the dispersal of personal, files and information was tragic. We are a short sighted species.
Following also after reading kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird where every character is a Harvard man, this book is filled with Yale and Harvard men. Each time it mentioned another Yale or Harvard man i smiled as I heard Kurts wonderful irony.
I could not help wonder if the trend in third level now of higher fees, less social life, more social media etc is creating shallower learning and friendships and perhaps resulting in fewer of the deep intellectual conversations that are so needed in intelligence gathering and understanding.
I think because of the discussion of the successes and failures through the centuries, it really is a good book to understand just how countries and organizations have to keep humble and questioning themselves otherwise they are likely to make woeful decisions. We definitely have survivor bias in how we look at the world.
A book well worth reading
January 18, 2023
G. J. A. O'Toole's "Honorable Treachery: A History of U. S. Intelligence, Espionage, and Covert Action from the American Revolution to the CIA" is a fascinating and informative look at how intelligence gathering developed throughout American history. Readers who enjoy non-fiction about espionage and intelligence-gathering should seek out O'Toole's book.
February 22, 2015
Unapologetic and insightful. Extensive use of reference material. 1st edition hardcover has nice typeface, paper, binding.
June 23, 2016
I actually used this book for research on a book I'm writing and only read 3 chapters. I'm sure it's worth reading the whole thing when I have more time.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews