Secret Intelligence Author:Ernest Volkman, Blaine Bagget Americans face a big problem: How do you operate a large and elaborate secret intelligence-gathering machine in a democratic society that depends for its continued existence on openness and the rule of law? This is the issue at the heart of this vivid history of American spying. — Beginning with spying during World War I and World War II, SECRET ... more »INTELLIGENCE moves on to a penetrating analysis of the birth and development of the vast central intelligence network that is constantly in the headlines today. With lucid writing, Ernest Vo an and Blaine Baggett reveal the forces that transformed Truman's nascent centralized operation into the mammoth system that includes not only the CIA, but the National Security Council, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and all of our military intelligence organizations as well.
They expose some of the startling ways in which our spies have historically operated, and what they have accomplished. And as you read, you'll understand just how spying works in a democratic society -- and how it can easily fail us.
This is brilliant popular history, each chapter a fascinating vignette in itself, yet always contributing to a unifying theme: the difficulties a democratic society faces in a contentious world where secrecy is essential to survival. Based on voluminous documentary sources and interviews with policymakers, spies, and intelligence officials -- including one of the last interviews William Casey ever granted -- SECRET INTELLIGENCE is a vivid one-volume account of American espionage in the twentieth century.
Ernest Volkman, former executive editor of Espionage magazine, is the author of three other books, including Warriors of the Night: Spies, Soldiers, and American Intelligence. He lives in New York.
Blaine Baggett, executive producer for the Secret Intelligence television series, is the KCET/Los Angeles Director for National Public Affairs. His production of "Spy Machines'' won the prestigious Peabody Award. He lives in Los Angeles.« less