American public official Allen Welsh Dulles served from 1953 as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and after the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs resigned in 1961.
Even though this book is a little dated now, the excerpts that Allen Dulles chose are still great examples of the spy genre, and his personal knowledge of the real world of espionage adds an additional light to everything that he offers. Anyone who enjoys a good spy story, or anyone who is curious but isn't sure where to start, will find this a great resource.
I was browsing in the library when this book reached out and grabbed me. I had to know. What would the Master Spook himself, Allen Dulles, consider a 'great spy story'? It is a fun book. The only problem is that many of the stories are excerpts from full length novels and, of course, some of them therefore will be added to my list of books I would like to read.
Not only were the selections really excellent (most of these were chapters chosen from novels), with great writing and interesting adventures. The introductions to each story by Dulles were GREAT, because he says, "This is a good example of something that actually happens in really spycraft," and he explains why it's such a good example. A super fun read.