First published 2015
Douglas Waller chronicles the wartime careers and later CIA leadership of four OSS operatives during World War II. Allen Dulles runs the most effective spy network against the Axis powers. Bill Casey orchestrates high-risk missions into Nazi Germany. Bill Colby commands commando operations behind enemy lines in occupied France and Norway. Richard Helms develops intelligence operations against the Soviets in postwar Berlin. These four men later ascend to lead the CIA, where their legacies prove mixed. Dulles orchestrates the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Helms faces conviction for lying to Congress about Chilean operations. Colby becomes ostracized after releasing the "Family Jewels" report exposing CIA misconduct. Casey nearly destroys both the agency and Reagan's presidency through the Iran-Contra affair. Drawing from thousands of declassified World War II documents and interviews with family members and CIA colleagues, Waller reveals how wartime experiences forged the men who would define American intelligence for decades.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-history, espionage, american-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-leaders
Setting: Axis Powers, Berlin, Chile, France, Norway
Period: World War II, Postwar
592 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster