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The Secret History of the CIA
Joseph J. Trento's 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 agency's 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 media's 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 reader's awareness not just of our intelligence services but also of contemporary American history. Numerous photographs are included.
568 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
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November 26, 2017
A review by Anthony T. Riggio of the book “The Secret History of the CIA” written by Joseph J. Trento.
This book was lent to me by a fellow member of Saint Rita Church in Santa Rosa Beach Florida. He is a retired US Army pilot and a Vietnam veteran. He knew I was a retired FBI agent and a lover of history. The book he loaned looked brand new and after I started reading it I noticed it was published in 2001 but did not mind because it was a historical work on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
After I started reading it, I got deeply into it and knew I wanted to have this book in my library, so while I was in a used book store, I bought a copy which was in pretty good shape to have as a future reference in my library, on the CIA. I had just recently finished a book about World II pilots and the rescue of over 500 pilots and crews who were forced to bail out of their crippled plane over the mountains in Yugoslavia, whose partisans were fighting the Nazi’s. The rescue was coordinated after much difficulties by the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the predecessor agency of the CIA formed during the Truman administration. I mention the OSS because there are several references to it in this history of the CIA.
Those veterans of the OSS were the foundations of the early CIA and were responsible for the intelligence operations after the end of World War II. This was a crucial time in our history because a nescient intelligence service was up against the most formidable intelligence networks. The USSR and its experiences in intelligence gathering was probably the best at their job. They had established a network as well as a collection of information and “turned” Nazi operatives and were now going against a freshman team of intelligence operatives.
Our efforts at gathering and utilizing counter intelligence operations began in earnest after WWII and the parceling out of the countries and territories of the Axis supporters. We definitely started out with a huge handicap and an uphill climb that has taught many lessons as well as the lives of many thousands of inexperienced handlers and operatives of spies after the war.
We were unknowingly penetrated by Soviet trained operatives from the get go and many of our initial efforts were met with disappointments and failures.
There were some in the CIA who instinctively knew there were counter espionage operatives in this new American operation. The history of the CIA weaves through a large number of leadership personalities and many operations that ring familiar to the history buffs reading this work and know of the faux pas’ experienced.
No book about the CIA would be complete without the interactions of the FBI which prior to WWII was responsible for worldwide intelligence but with the war and the difficulties to establish an intelligence network in Europe, it fell on the military and the formation of a group separate, yet inexorably connected to the Army, and that was the OSS.
As its offspring, the CIA developed the experience and talent over the next 30 years to compete against the Soviet apparatus. Reading this book, however, may lead the casual reader to be greatly disappointed in this learning curve. There are many things that surprised me about some of its operations and having lived through the entire period of this book, made it so much more interesting. Starting with the Berlin wall and the Cuban missile crisis, both of which caused an extension of my time in the Army. Of course, the assassination of President Kennedy portrays some things I was not aware of in the handling of Lee Harvey Oswald by both the US Government and the KGB. These may fuel the conspiratress view of the whole Kennedy assassination ( I am sure it did and continues to do so), and will titillate the uninitiated.
The book does touch on the penetrations of more current spies e.g., Aldrich Ames(CIA) and Robert Hannsen (FBI) and the possibility of others in both organizations. The book does mention a friend and a classmate of mine at the FBI Academy, namely Thomas K. Kimmel who hypothesized in the late nineties that the FBI had been penetrated by the soviets. This was not believed at the time he presented to Louis Freeh but probably was acted on by other in the FBI because of the subsequent discovery of and arrest of Robert Hannsen in 2001.
Hopefully, any reader of this book will look at all the mistakes faux pas’ as learning experiences because, I firmly believe both the CIA and the FBI have developed and matured in the art of counterintelligence.
As an aside, I once spoke to a retired KGB agent, after I retired from the FBI and he was most complimentary about the FBI’s efforts against the Soviets and how successful they were notwithstanding, all the legal hurdles and a penetrative media. He added, we had more manpower than the FBI could ever put to bear and yet, ”you caught us too many times”.
I highly recommend the reading of this book, especially for the history buffs. I gave the book four stars out of five because often times the book did not follow a steady time line of events and the characters were confusing though out and required going back to earlier references.
This book was lent to me by a fellow member of Saint Rita Church in Santa Rosa Beach Florida. He is a retired US Army pilot and a Vietnam veteran. He knew I was a retired FBI agent and a lover of history. The book he loaned looked brand new and after I started reading it I noticed it was published in 2001 but did not mind because it was a historical work on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
After I started reading it, I got deeply into it and knew I wanted to have this book in my library, so while I was in a used book store, I bought a copy which was in pretty good shape to have as a future reference in my library, on the CIA. I had just recently finished a book about World II pilots and the rescue of over 500 pilots and crews who were forced to bail out of their crippled plane over the mountains in Yugoslavia, whose partisans were fighting the Nazi’s. The rescue was coordinated after much difficulties by the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the predecessor agency of the CIA formed during the Truman administration. I mention the OSS because there are several references to it in this history of the CIA.
Those veterans of the OSS were the foundations of the early CIA and were responsible for the intelligence operations after the end of World War II. This was a crucial time in our history because a nescient intelligence service was up against the most formidable intelligence networks. The USSR and its experiences in intelligence gathering was probably the best at their job. They had established a network as well as a collection of information and “turned” Nazi operatives and were now going against a freshman team of intelligence operatives.
Our efforts at gathering and utilizing counter intelligence operations began in earnest after WWII and the parceling out of the countries and territories of the Axis supporters. We definitely started out with a huge handicap and an uphill climb that has taught many lessons as well as the lives of many thousands of inexperienced handlers and operatives of spies after the war.
We were unknowingly penetrated by Soviet trained operatives from the get go and many of our initial efforts were met with disappointments and failures.
There were some in the CIA who instinctively knew there were counter espionage operatives in this new American operation. The history of the CIA weaves through a large number of leadership personalities and many operations that ring familiar to the history buffs reading this work and know of the faux pas’ experienced.
No book about the CIA would be complete without the interactions of the FBI which prior to WWII was responsible for worldwide intelligence but with the war and the difficulties to establish an intelligence network in Europe, it fell on the military and the formation of a group separate, yet inexorably connected to the Army, and that was the OSS.
As its offspring, the CIA developed the experience and talent over the next 30 years to compete against the Soviet apparatus. Reading this book, however, may lead the casual reader to be greatly disappointed in this learning curve. There are many things that surprised me about some of its operations and having lived through the entire period of this book, made it so much more interesting. Starting with the Berlin wall and the Cuban missile crisis, both of which caused an extension of my time in the Army. Of course, the assassination of President Kennedy portrays some things I was not aware of in the handling of Lee Harvey Oswald by both the US Government and the KGB. These may fuel the conspiratress view of the whole Kennedy assassination ( I am sure it did and continues to do so), and will titillate the uninitiated.
The book does touch on the penetrations of more current spies e.g., Aldrich Ames(CIA) and Robert Hannsen (FBI) and the possibility of others in both organizations. The book does mention a friend and a classmate of mine at the FBI Academy, namely Thomas K. Kimmel who hypothesized in the late nineties that the FBI had been penetrated by the soviets. This was not believed at the time he presented to Louis Freeh but probably was acted on by other in the FBI because of the subsequent discovery of and arrest of Robert Hannsen in 2001.
Hopefully, any reader of this book will look at all the mistakes faux pas’ as learning experiences because, I firmly believe both the CIA and the FBI have developed and matured in the art of counterintelligence.
As an aside, I once spoke to a retired KGB agent, after I retired from the FBI and he was most complimentary about the FBI’s efforts against the Soviets and how successful they were notwithstanding, all the legal hurdles and a penetrative media. He added, we had more manpower than the FBI could ever put to bear and yet, ”you caught us too many times”.
I highly recommend the reading of this book, especially for the history buffs. I gave the book four stars out of five because often times the book did not follow a steady time line of events and the characters were confusing though out and required going back to earlier references.
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March 11, 2014I would have to say I'm throughly disgusted with our CIA and FBI. The lying and cheating our country does to its own tax paying citizens is awful! The fact that the US sheltered Nazi war criminals after WWII because of their knowledge on weapons and Russia make me sick.
This book took me a while to read because I actually went out to the internet and googled so many of the references and did a Wikpedia search on all the key individuals. I will have to say - I never liked J. Edgar Hoover and I like him even less now.
All in all, this was a very good book on history. Now I'm off to read more to see how different other books give on their take of our history that was written in this book.
This book took me a while to read because I actually went out to the internet and googled so many of the references and did a Wikpedia search on all the key individuals. I will have to say - I never liked J. Edgar Hoover and I like him even less now.
All in all, this was a very good book on history. Now I'm off to read more to see how different other books give on their take of our history that was written in this book.
March 1, 2011
The biggest “secret” in the Secret History of the CIA is that the CIA was never very successful at fighting the Soviet Union and had very little to do with winning the Cold War. On the other hand, the Soviet Union was extremely successful at penetrating the highest levels of Western intelligence agencies the moment WWII ended. Telling the CIA’s secret history is to tell the story of the KGB’s numerous moles and the lifelong quest of America’s counter-intelligence chief, James Jesus Angleton, to find them.
The Secret History of the CIA is a fascinating read, but it is not easy to read train wreck after train wreck. It is also difficult to distinguish absolute facts from conspiracy theories. For example, Trento provides evidence that JFK was assassinated as part of Brezhnev’s coup to remove Krushchev, but it is hard to find that information correlated elsewhere on the Internet. That said, Trento has exemplary primary sources as Angleton gave Trento is personal papers that he took from the CIA after he was fired. On surer factual ground, Trento describes the careers of the KGBs most successful moles such as Kim Philby, Sasha, and George Weisz. He also describes the bungled Castro assassination attempts and the complete corruption exhibited by agents in Saigon. News flash: they sold heroin and had lots of sex.
Rating the Secret History of the CIA is difficult, because I am not sure I trust its accuracy or the political bias of the author. I think I need to read another book on Cold War Era espionage before I can pass final judgement.
The Secret History of the CIA is a fascinating read, but it is not easy to read train wreck after train wreck. It is also difficult to distinguish absolute facts from conspiracy theories. For example, Trento provides evidence that JFK was assassinated as part of Brezhnev’s coup to remove Krushchev, but it is hard to find that information correlated elsewhere on the Internet. That said, Trento has exemplary primary sources as Angleton gave Trento is personal papers that he took from the CIA after he was fired. On surer factual ground, Trento describes the careers of the KGBs most successful moles such as Kim Philby, Sasha, and George Weisz. He also describes the bungled Castro assassination attempts and the complete corruption exhibited by agents in Saigon. News flash: they sold heroin and had lots of sex.
Rating the Secret History of the CIA is difficult, because I am not sure I trust its accuracy or the political bias of the author. I think I need to read another book on Cold War Era espionage before I can pass final judgement.
December 7, 2017
Extremely well written, well researched, and while this could have been boring- it was riveting. A+++ read. Highly recommended.
March 29, 2014
My first non-fiction foray into the CIA, i see that I'll have to read a few more books on the subject to flesh out my thoughts. The author's firsthand interviews and research seem to give it a great deal of credibility.
January 14, 2017
This book was a long slog but I'm glad I read it. Trento, despite occasional lapses into gossip and unsubstantiated assertions, has the goods. His major project seems to be the rehabilitation of the reputation of the super spy James Angleton, whose legacy is still dubious. He presents a comprehensive picture of Angleton that invites sympathy for this intrepid counter-intelligence agent. Whether his assessment of Angleton's career is done better elsewhere, I cannot say because I'm not familiar with spook literature.
To any reader who comes to this book with a simple black/white, us/them, good/bad mentality about the US and other nations (are there any such readers?) this book will come as a revelation. Much of the content is enlightening as it tells how surveillance and counter-surveillance and counter-counter-surveillance is carried out. Or, maybe it was not carried out, as the case may be, because those in power had a greater need for surveillance not to be carried out than they had a need for the surveillance to be carried out. Do you see where I'm going with this? It's all too easy, once you go down the rabbit-hole, to begin speculating a little too much about motivation. Spies also have a way of covering their tracks that tends to confound those coming after them who wish to tell the complete story.
The outstanding example of speculation about motivation in the book is Trento's take on the Kennedy assassination. He concludes that other governments were involved, but his evidence is thin and unconvincing, in my opinion. It's not enough to link up a whole series of "might have", "could be" and "if only" statements.
Despite that and a few other gossipy passages where he seems to have relied too much on his confidante's off-handed and anecdotal memories, the book is extremely thorough and the footnotes indicate great reliability for the bulk of his reporting. His judgement of the missteps of the US secret services seem, on the whole, to be justified. The recounting of sexual high-jinks among agents seems less justified. Were a sizable majority of US agents and CIA administrators serial adulterers and all around cock-hounds? Apparently so, if one believes this narrative.
However, the harshness that he displays in these and other judgements is worrisome, because it begins to feel like sensationalism. The stories of these agencies over the last 75 years or so are already sensational enough. This leads me to the conclusion that he allowed himself to wallow a bit in speculation in order to bring the page count up to a respectable 480 pages.
A good example of this is his firm assertion that George Weisz's death was not a suicide but a murder carried out by foreign nationals. Weisz does seem on the evidence presented by Trento to have been extremely useful to Israeli security forces, but one wonders where the motivation was to snuff him out. Who would have wanted to, and why? This evidence seems to be missing in action. Nor are the recollections of Weisz's somewhat scatterbrained family very helpful or convincing. So, in this matter Trento seemed to be building a case that was really not there. He had better luck with reconstructing the history of Ivan Orlov's operations. It is entirely believable to this reader that Orlov was in fact the legendary mole "Sasha" that Angleton was hunting all along.
The quote that I appreciate the most (it appears in the Epilogue of the book) is not from Trento, but from one of his confidantes, William R. Corson, who said, while assessing the legacy of the CIA during the Cold War: "...in the end, we failed at the mission. The mission was to keep track and predict what the Soviet Union was up to....We deluded ourselves into believing that intelligence was more meaningful than information. We confused degree of difficulty with the value of the information. The really important information was sitting in front of our noses because it seemed insignificant. Our problem was that we could not discern what mattered."
To any reader who comes to this book with a simple black/white, us/them, good/bad mentality about the US and other nations (are there any such readers?) this book will come as a revelation. Much of the content is enlightening as it tells how surveillance and counter-surveillance and counter-counter-surveillance is carried out. Or, maybe it was not carried out, as the case may be, because those in power had a greater need for surveillance not to be carried out than they had a need for the surveillance to be carried out. Do you see where I'm going with this? It's all too easy, once you go down the rabbit-hole, to begin speculating a little too much about motivation. Spies also have a way of covering their tracks that tends to confound those coming after them who wish to tell the complete story.
The outstanding example of speculation about motivation in the book is Trento's take on the Kennedy assassination. He concludes that other governments were involved, but his evidence is thin and unconvincing, in my opinion. It's not enough to link up a whole series of "might have", "could be" and "if only" statements.
Despite that and a few other gossipy passages where he seems to have relied too much on his confidante's off-handed and anecdotal memories, the book is extremely thorough and the footnotes indicate great reliability for the bulk of his reporting. His judgement of the missteps of the US secret services seem, on the whole, to be justified. The recounting of sexual high-jinks among agents seems less justified. Were a sizable majority of US agents and CIA administrators serial adulterers and all around cock-hounds? Apparently so, if one believes this narrative.
However, the harshness that he displays in these and other judgements is worrisome, because it begins to feel like sensationalism. The stories of these agencies over the last 75 years or so are already sensational enough. This leads me to the conclusion that he allowed himself to wallow a bit in speculation in order to bring the page count up to a respectable 480 pages.
A good example of this is his firm assertion that George Weisz's death was not a suicide but a murder carried out by foreign nationals. Weisz does seem on the evidence presented by Trento to have been extremely useful to Israeli security forces, but one wonders where the motivation was to snuff him out. Who would have wanted to, and why? This evidence seems to be missing in action. Nor are the recollections of Weisz's somewhat scatterbrained family very helpful or convincing. So, in this matter Trento seemed to be building a case that was really not there. He had better luck with reconstructing the history of Ivan Orlov's operations. It is entirely believable to this reader that Orlov was in fact the legendary mole "Sasha" that Angleton was hunting all along.
The quote that I appreciate the most (it appears in the Epilogue of the book) is not from Trento, but from one of his confidantes, William R. Corson, who said, while assessing the legacy of the CIA during the Cold War: "...in the end, we failed at the mission. The mission was to keep track and predict what the Soviet Union was up to....We deluded ourselves into believing that intelligence was more meaningful than information. We confused degree of difficulty with the value of the information. The really important information was sitting in front of our noses because it seemed insignificant. Our problem was that we could not discern what mattered."
July 19, 2007
I am on a bit of a spy kick lately, and I wanted to find a book that was a sort of overview of the history of the CIA. I looked around for something that covered the whole history of the Agency, and really couldn't find anything good, so I settled for this.
In some respects, it is what I wanted - its trashy, full of stories of drunks and mistresses and batshit crazy people. It trashes the famous "Berlin Base" CIA operation, defend James Angelton and makes a case for the CIA being a basically inenpt organization that lost out big to the Russians during the Cold War. It is also not the most reliable book I have ever read.
Trento spends a bunch of time hinting that the Agency was involved in the assassination of JFK and a bunch more time questioning the apparent suicides of a number of agents. I find these segments of the books more than a little doubtful. I guess the book is basically a diversion (and almost a throw back to the good old days when I read tons of conspiracy theory stuff) and not a good history of the CIA. Basically, its a fast read, but I can't really say I would recommend it as anything other than a cheap thrill.
In some respects, it is what I wanted - its trashy, full of stories of drunks and mistresses and batshit crazy people. It trashes the famous "Berlin Base" CIA operation, defend James Angelton and makes a case for the CIA being a basically inenpt organization that lost out big to the Russians during the Cold War. It is also not the most reliable book I have ever read.
Trento spends a bunch of time hinting that the Agency was involved in the assassination of JFK and a bunch more time questioning the apparent suicides of a number of agents. I find these segments of the books more than a little doubtful. I guess the book is basically a diversion (and almost a throw back to the good old days when I read tons of conspiracy theory stuff) and not a good history of the CIA. Basically, its a fast read, but I can't really say I would recommend it as anything other than a cheap thrill.
August 26, 2016
Should be titled "A" Secret History. I was expecting a collection of the covert war crimes committed by the CIA, but what I got was a linear story following several CIA officials through the decades of the Cold War. And a suspect story at that, the author doesn't seem too suspicious of his sources and is willing to put forth the idea that Russia was the hand that killed JFK. There are many interesting parts of the book but all and all a disappointment and not very credible.
May 18, 2017
Trento's history of the CIA and its role in bringing Pinochet to power reveals another layer to Watergate and what prompted Richard Nixon to resign rather than face trial. This book is packed full of the history behind our history. Don't understand what's happening in the world today but wish you did? Read this book.
April 19, 2020
I found this book fascinating. Joseph Trento, an investigative journalist since 1968 most notably associated with the late Jack Anderson, had access to so many former “Company” men that I found myself wondering if this guys for real? James Angleton, chief of CIA Counterintelligence from 1954-75, is the named primary source. It seems that Angleton wanted the truth about the missteps, lost opportunities and out and out failures of the CIA to be told. The agreement Trento had with Angleton was that this book was not to be published until 10 years after Angleton’s death (1987), which Trento honored. Ironically, the book was released the same week as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
The truth often hurts but can also be a cathartic. I believe that is what Angleton was hoping for when, over the course of several years, he met and discussed the history of the CIA with Trento. The KGB moles (Igor Orlov and Kim Philby): the Ike years with the Dulles Brothers working outside the law (and the mission): the battles with J Edgar Hoover: The Bay of Pigs: the KGB’s real association with Oswald and the Viet Nam years. This book is a scathing indictment of the CIA. Without any spoilers, here’s a taste.
On Halloween 1959, at the US embassy in Moscow, Lee Harvey Oswald renounced his US citizenship to Richard Snyder. Snyder, officially a member of the US diplomatic staff worked for the CIA. Snyder felt the entire interview seemed rehearsed and that “it was clear that Oswald, had his own agenda”. Snyder tried to change Oswald’s mind not only about renouncing his US citizenship but also his decision to defect to the USSR. Oswald was adamant about defecting and seemed arrogant about it. Oswald, then a US Marine radar technician assigned to the radar station in Atsugi, Japan, the USAF base where U2’s were based and operated from, added with a forced flourish that “Whatever knowledge I learned in the military I will share with my new countrymen”. Less than a year later, on May 1st, 1960, the Soviet Union did what the CIA had assured Eisenhower couldn’t be done; they shot down Francis Gary Powers in a U2 spy plane.
When Oswald ‘redefected’ early in 1961 he admitted that he was still a Marxist, but he had grown disillusioned with what the USSR had become. He and his new wife, Marina, and their baby girl sailed to New York via the SS Maasdam in June with very few questions asked. How the hell does this guy not warrant a red flag or two with both the CIA and the FBI? Oswald claimed his life in the Soviet Union was bleak and drab. Later defectors would dispute this version of his life there. After the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, both Khrushchev and Kennedy had targets on their backs for various reasons. The book does a convincing job of stating why, and how, both were soon removed. I found this part of the story particularly compelling.
There are other covert actions that happened in Angleton’s tenure that are not covered here. Project AJAX and the capture and execution of Che Guevara come to mind. However, this is basically the story of the CIA from Angleton’s POV and his priority was counterintelligence. Trento pulls no punches. He leads the reader to the conclusion that Angleton’s failure at his job; exposing and removing KGB moles within the CIA, was a disaster and that Angleton wanted history to know the truth.
Despite the CIA’s failures, the USSR collapsed in 1989. The US Intelligence community was completely exposed as failing at their mission since they were as surprised as everyone else. This book goes a long way in explaining how the USSR beat us so regularly and so badly in the espionage game yet still managed to lose the cold war. Sometimes you just get lucky.
The truth often hurts but can also be a cathartic. I believe that is what Angleton was hoping for when, over the course of several years, he met and discussed the history of the CIA with Trento. The KGB moles (Igor Orlov and Kim Philby): the Ike years with the Dulles Brothers working outside the law (and the mission): the battles with J Edgar Hoover: The Bay of Pigs: the KGB’s real association with Oswald and the Viet Nam years. This book is a scathing indictment of the CIA. Without any spoilers, here’s a taste.
On Halloween 1959, at the US embassy in Moscow, Lee Harvey Oswald renounced his US citizenship to Richard Snyder. Snyder, officially a member of the US diplomatic staff worked for the CIA. Snyder felt the entire interview seemed rehearsed and that “it was clear that Oswald, had his own agenda”. Snyder tried to change Oswald’s mind not only about renouncing his US citizenship but also his decision to defect to the USSR. Oswald was adamant about defecting and seemed arrogant about it. Oswald, then a US Marine radar technician assigned to the radar station in Atsugi, Japan, the USAF base where U2’s were based and operated from, added with a forced flourish that “Whatever knowledge I learned in the military I will share with my new countrymen”. Less than a year later, on May 1st, 1960, the Soviet Union did what the CIA had assured Eisenhower couldn’t be done; they shot down Francis Gary Powers in a U2 spy plane.
When Oswald ‘redefected’ early in 1961 he admitted that he was still a Marxist, but he had grown disillusioned with what the USSR had become. He and his new wife, Marina, and their baby girl sailed to New York via the SS Maasdam in June with very few questions asked. How the hell does this guy not warrant a red flag or two with both the CIA and the FBI? Oswald claimed his life in the Soviet Union was bleak and drab. Later defectors would dispute this version of his life there. After the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, both Khrushchev and Kennedy had targets on their backs for various reasons. The book does a convincing job of stating why, and how, both were soon removed. I found this part of the story particularly compelling.
There are other covert actions that happened in Angleton’s tenure that are not covered here. Project AJAX and the capture and execution of Che Guevara come to mind. However, this is basically the story of the CIA from Angleton’s POV and his priority was counterintelligence. Trento pulls no punches. He leads the reader to the conclusion that Angleton’s failure at his job; exposing and removing KGB moles within the CIA, was a disaster and that Angleton wanted history to know the truth.
Despite the CIA’s failures, the USSR collapsed in 1989. The US Intelligence community was completely exposed as failing at their mission since they were as surprised as everyone else. This book goes a long way in explaining how the USSR beat us so regularly and so badly in the espionage game yet still managed to lose the cold war. Sometimes you just get lucky.
June 9, 2022
If there ever were myths about how US foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations conducted by the CIA was free from Soviet interference, moles, and political influence during the Cold War, those myths are exploded in this book.
The book takes a look at the tortured conduct of James Jesus Angleton's crusade to uncover a mole at the highest levels of government, a crusade that unfairly ended many careers and sent a chill through the operations being conducted. The services had indeed been penetrated but old boy alliances protected the mole until after Angleton himself was forced out, dying of cancer.
The release of archival materials revealed, too, the operation of a "ghost" intelligence service conducting off the books operations as well as a very close relationship of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby to both Russia and Cuba, in Ruby's case to Santo Trafficante, the mob boss in Miami who the CIA used arm Cuban insurgents to oppose Castro and retain Battista in power.
There's much more in this book, and it is clearly the most revealing and damning work about US intelligence services I've read. At the end, Angleton opined,
"You know how I got to be in charge of counterintelligence? I agreed not to polygraph Allen Dulles and 60 of his closest friends. . . They were afraid that their own business dealings with Hitler's pals would come out. They were too arrogant to believe that Russia would discover it all. . . . there was no accountability. And without real accountability, everything turned to shit. . . Fundamentally, the founding fathers of American intelligence were liars. . . . Outside of their duplicity, the only thing they had in common was a desire for absolute power." (pages 478-9).
Trento, in his preface, is more succinct. He writes that "[n]o career required as much abandonment of personal morality by an individual as a career in the CIA or, across the world, in the KGB." When I finished the book, I thought about this, too. The book has, once and for all, destroyed any illusions I had about the fundamental integrity and efficacy of the intelligence services especially when it is considered that the Vietnam War and placing Pinochet in power in Chile were the work of the CIA operations people. I now wonder whether, even after the many investigations, integrity has been restored to our intelligence services, which I consider to be central to the security and safety of this nation and its people. If it hasn't, we can't trust 'em. If it has, we at least know that the many good people who work there giving it their best impartial interpretations and playing by a rulebook are having an effect on foreign policy and security.
The book takes a look at the tortured conduct of James Jesus Angleton's crusade to uncover a mole at the highest levels of government, a crusade that unfairly ended many careers and sent a chill through the operations being conducted. The services had indeed been penetrated but old boy alliances protected the mole until after Angleton himself was forced out, dying of cancer.
The release of archival materials revealed, too, the operation of a "ghost" intelligence service conducting off the books operations as well as a very close relationship of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby to both Russia and Cuba, in Ruby's case to Santo Trafficante, the mob boss in Miami who the CIA used arm Cuban insurgents to oppose Castro and retain Battista in power.
There's much more in this book, and it is clearly the most revealing and damning work about US intelligence services I've read. At the end, Angleton opined,
"You know how I got to be in charge of counterintelligence? I agreed not to polygraph Allen Dulles and 60 of his closest friends. . . They were afraid that their own business dealings with Hitler's pals would come out. They were too arrogant to believe that Russia would discover it all. . . . there was no accountability. And without real accountability, everything turned to shit. . . Fundamentally, the founding fathers of American intelligence were liars. . . . Outside of their duplicity, the only thing they had in common was a desire for absolute power." (pages 478-9).
Trento, in his preface, is more succinct. He writes that "[n]o career required as much abandonment of personal morality by an individual as a career in the CIA or, across the world, in the KGB." When I finished the book, I thought about this, too. The book has, once and for all, destroyed any illusions I had about the fundamental integrity and efficacy of the intelligence services especially when it is considered that the Vietnam War and placing Pinochet in power in Chile were the work of the CIA operations people. I now wonder whether, even after the many investigations, integrity has been restored to our intelligence services, which I consider to be central to the security and safety of this nation and its people. If it hasn't, we can't trust 'em. If it has, we at least know that the many good people who work there giving it their best impartial interpretations and playing by a rulebook are having an effect on foreign policy and security.
October 31, 2017
Since I was of reading age, I have always been intrigued with and kept up with news about US, Soviet, British, German and Israeli Spies. I tried to keep up with the news stories as they were getting exposed, died of mysterious circumstances or died in general …
The cast of characters were all too familiar to me. It took me a long time to read the book, not just, because of my other obligations, but due to needing to take a pause of the incompetence, the good intentions gone wrong discoveries this book exposed. I was amazed at the access Joe Trento had to the names mentioned in this book.
I found it a bit ironic that he had such a great grasp of the history of the Cold War, the CIA as well as the FBI. If you want to find out how these agencies i.e.: the CIA and the FBI could not see the forest from the trees i.e.: the big picture, then it is a must-read book for you as well. This book sheds light as to why and how these leaders could not see through all the Double Agents like Igor Orlov, George Weisz, Kim Philby and the rest of the cast. Why the CIA and the FBI lacked the same insight. Was it because of they were misguided and arrogant or some other reason?
It addresses many factors, such as how hardworking, dedicated and patriotic people were sacrificed not just career wise, but many lost their lives due to these people’s lack of understanding or caring attitudes.
As the new batch of secret documents of the President Kennedy assassination are being released and some still held back it adds a new relevance to this book…
If you want to get a better understanding of these agencies, then do take the time and read this book.
The cast of characters were all too familiar to me. It took me a long time to read the book, not just, because of my other obligations, but due to needing to take a pause of the incompetence, the good intentions gone wrong discoveries this book exposed. I was amazed at the access Joe Trento had to the names mentioned in this book.
I found it a bit ironic that he had such a great grasp of the history of the Cold War, the CIA as well as the FBI. If you want to find out how these agencies i.e.: the CIA and the FBI could not see the forest from the trees i.e.: the big picture, then it is a must-read book for you as well. This book sheds light as to why and how these leaders could not see through all the Double Agents like Igor Orlov, George Weisz, Kim Philby and the rest of the cast. Why the CIA and the FBI lacked the same insight. Was it because of they were misguided and arrogant or some other reason?
It addresses many factors, such as how hardworking, dedicated and patriotic people were sacrificed not just career wise, but many lost their lives due to these people’s lack of understanding or caring attitudes.
As the new batch of secret documents of the President Kennedy assassination are being released and some still held back it adds a new relevance to this book…
If you want to get a better understanding of these agencies, then do take the time and read this book.
November 18, 2023
A decent survey of the CIA's history through the end of the 20th Century, but much of it reads like a rather dull chronology of names carrying out actions, rather than a compelling narrative. You do get a more detailed impression of a few of the characters, specifically James Angleton and Igor Orlov, but primarily just as they weave in and out of the recitation of facts.
The author also glazes over some chapters in CIA history that I was most interested in learning about -- in a book that's over 500 pages when including notes, there's *one* sentence alluding to the stay-behind networks set up throughout Europe, like Gladio in Italy. The author generally seems more interested in the conniving and politicking of the men that ran the Agency during that period than the actual deeds they carried out.
Troublingly, the author also seems convinced that Leonid Brezhnev was the mastermind of the Kennedy assassination. It's something he makes offhand reference to in Chapter 33, assuming it's as obvious as if he were pointing out that the sky is blue. I can think of several parties that would have been interested in seeing Kennedy dead -- Brezhnev and his loyalists are not high on the list.
Again, a decent survey, but more as a jumping-off point that you can use to try and identify chapters in the CIA's history that will require additional reading.
The author also glazes over some chapters in CIA history that I was most interested in learning about -- in a book that's over 500 pages when including notes, there's *one* sentence alluding to the stay-behind networks set up throughout Europe, like Gladio in Italy. The author generally seems more interested in the conniving and politicking of the men that ran the Agency during that period than the actual deeds they carried out.
Troublingly, the author also seems convinced that Leonid Brezhnev was the mastermind of the Kennedy assassination. It's something he makes offhand reference to in Chapter 33, assuming it's as obvious as if he were pointing out that the sky is blue. I can think of several parties that would have been interested in seeing Kennedy dead -- Brezhnev and his loyalists are not high on the list.
Again, a decent survey, but more as a jumping-off point that you can use to try and identify chapters in the CIA's history that will require additional reading.
December 11, 2021
It was Ok. I learned a few things I didn't know. Like many modern histories this one was written to prove a point. In this case, that the Agency was and is an utter failure and we would have been much better off without it. The book is a thorough negative expose of the CIA based on the files the author acquired after the deaths of James Angleton and Bob Crowley; two CIA heavyweights whose history goes way back almost the the agency's founding. It makes for interesting reading but seems terribly one-sided. When dealing with secret agencies it seems nearly impossible to know what the truth really is but a lot of what Trento writes does ring true. But are there truths that contradict his world-view that he left out? One can only wonder....
March 12, 2023
The first half of the book is five stars. After Vietnam, the prose and story get bogged down with a river of names and duty stations that it gets difficult to follow. There are also some conspiracy elements that are conveyed with absolute certainty by the author instead of more circumspectly. For example, the author is convinced that the KGB manipulated the Cubans to help murder JFK. Finally, it seems that almost everyone in the CIA was a mole or so incompetent that they are a mole without knowing.
December 17, 2025
I didn’t know how to rate this because I learned a ton reading this book. However, it was one of the most confusing books I’ve read. Names and titles being thrown around for no apparent purpose, jumping from time period to time period, and obviously because of the content driving the book, a very biased perspective of things. There is still plenty to learn, even from a biased perspective. For example, I had no idea the KGB was potentially involved in the Kennedy assassination, or about how much reputation protection was involved in intelligence bureau coverups.
February 20, 2018
About one hundred pages in, I resigned myself to the fact that the book is better appreciated as fiction. The paucity of primary sources and lack of footnotes causes the skeptical reader to ask, “How in the world could the Trento know this level of detail?”
It is an entertaining read in spots, but needs to be taken for what it is, a “secret” history; as such, much of it is unverifiable and imaginative.
It is an entertaining read in spots, but needs to be taken for what it is, a “secret” history; as such, much of it is unverifiable and imaginative.
June 14, 2022
Really good expose of how, even though the United States won the Cold War, it was really with no help from the CIA. The Russians, with a lot more experience at the spy game, had infiltrated both the CIA and MI6 from before the beginning of the Cold War and the ending of World War II. As tensions have heated up again with Russia, it makes an American wonder how much more infiltration is currently in our security systems.
May 3, 2025
Hard to believe the agency was run by so many incompetent and arrogant narcissists who thought they knew what was going on when they actually didn’t. So many secrets were lost to the Russians I believe amazed if we had any secrets left that they don’t have. We can only hope they had as many incompetent agents as we did.
November 12, 2024
Such a good read. The end was a bit bogged down with names and dates but written with journalistic integrity (I think). Shines a light on some of our dirty little secrets that are still impacting other countries and world events.
March 18, 2018
Great account of real life CIA work. Excellently and believably told. Tons of how to details by the man who masterminded and lived the true story behind the film Argo.
April 30, 2018
A very in depth look at the CIA warts and all. A good read but at times dry. No real bias in it though so it is more level than other books.
December 31, 2019
Idiots all around.
March 16, 2011
This book was pretty sweet, and it was supposed to be released on September 11, 2001. How do we spell irony? The thing that kind of set this book apart from alot of other books is that the author had access to files from former CIA employees. This information the author was able to obtain really fleshed this book out and gave a new spin on the history of the CIA. The CIA and FBI's famous pissing matches all the way through the famous CIA mole hunt and more. This book is pretty spectacular. There is one set back to this book that kept it from getting five stars. The author is a journalist and this is the authors first attempt at a book, and it shows. This can be a dry read at times bordering on the edge of being a journalistic piece rather than a book.
December 17, 2009
It was OK, probably should be titled "A Secret History..." rarther than "The Secret History..." Many interesting operations cited, like Project Paperclip, but nothing breathtaking to the average espionage student.
Rambling, opinionated, prose from an Intelligence outsider. How 400+ pages of exciting subjects can be presented so boreingly is beyond me. Thankfully, there are pages of footnotes and an appendix at the end.
Several times I felt a strong De Ja Vu while reading and I eventually attributed this to the fact that I have read "THE ROPE DANCER" and other works of fiction based on reality.
Rambling, opinionated, prose from an Intelligence outsider. How 400+ pages of exciting subjects can be presented so boreingly is beyond me. Thankfully, there are pages of footnotes and an appendix at the end.
Several times I felt a strong De Ja Vu while reading and I eventually attributed this to the fact that I have read "THE ROPE DANCER" and other works of fiction based on reality.
July 26, 2015
How this book portrayed the CIA/FBI from the end of WWII to the Berlin Wall coming down is like this: pissing contests, egos, and the Good Old Boys Club > actual intelligence and protecting America. No one learned from their mistakes and many people, including JFK, died because of it. Couple this with many other books explaining the same failures leading up to 9/11 and the Iraq War, it's kinda hard not to think these may be accurate depictions of these parts of the intelligence Community. That, or they're all sore at not being part of the good old boys club. Either way, easy read, if frustrating.
July 30, 2013
I give this four stars for the following reasons:
1) The author's approximately decades of relevant intelligence reporting before the 2005 edition in an investigative career that began in 1968.
2) The author's unique access to longtime CIA Counter-intelligence Chief James J. Angleton and his papers.
3) The enduring message Angleton's disappointment with his career, and its relevance to today's NSA and other spy scandals.
I may revisit this with a five-star rating. I'm leery of awarding too many, but this is on the cusp.
1) The author's approximately decades of relevant intelligence reporting before the 2005 edition in an investigative career that began in 1968.
2) The author's unique access to longtime CIA Counter-intelligence Chief James J. Angleton and his papers.
3) The enduring message Angleton's disappointment with his career, and its relevance to today's NSA and other spy scandals.
I may revisit this with a five-star rating. I'm leery of awarding too many, but this is on the cusp.
February 3, 2008
This is a great book about the CIA. It is made up of interviews with CIA officials from its onset to the Reagan administration.The most insteresting part is how often the system failed. From the US recruiting Nazis to work against the Soviets, to botched assassination attempt on Castro, even the details of the Kennedy assassination the CIA basically failed repeatedly throughout its history. It turns out the CIA had Soviet moles infecting it from the very beginning.Definately worth the read.
March 31, 2014
The book was boring in many chapters and difficult to hold my interest. However I did finish it and was disappointed by revelations by the author. I was surprised to find so much incompetence in the CIA and cleverness by the KGB that went undiscovered. In lowered my faith in the CIA and FBI. I am sure that most CIA staff are very competent but it is a shame the leadership lacks the skills necessary to lead this agency.
May 1, 2025
Excellent context and background on the uglier side of Modern U.S. History. The book is well worth reading to learn about the incompetence of the CIA and the international travesties that have happened in their name.
The hardest part of the book for me was keeping track of the various characters over time, and especially regarding their allegiance. It became very confusing at times to understand who was the double-agent, or the triple-agent, etc.
The hardest part of the book for me was keeping track of the various characters over time, and especially regarding their allegiance. It became very confusing at times to understand who was the double-agent, or the triple-agent, etc.
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