Synopses & Reviews
It was often thought that Richard Helms would never tell his story -- but here it is, revealing, newsmaking, with candid assessments of the controversies and triumphs of a remarkable career.
A Look over My Shoulder begins with President Nixon's attempting to embroil the CIA in the Watergate cover-up. Richard Helms then tells about his upbringing in New Jersey and his schooling in Switzerland, including the story of how he had lunch with Hitler. During World War II he was assigned to the German desk of William Casey's London office, and later returned to Germany to Allan Dulles's Berlin office in the OSS.
The Central Intelligence Agency was created out of the OSS in an attempt to fit a secret intelligence agency into the federal government. Richard Helms was in the operation from the beginning, his initial responsibility being secret operations in Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe. He was promoted to deputy director of Central Intelligence, and then to the director's position in 1966. His final post was ambassador to the Shah's Iran. The years covered in this narrative are among the most tumultuous in American history.
A Look over My Shoulder focuses on subjects such as covert action, intelligence collection, the uses and misuses of intelligence, and the problems secret intelligence encounters in an open society with a free press.
Synopsis
A Look over My Shoulder begins with President Nixons attempt to embroil the Central Intelligence Agency, of which Richard Helms was then the director, in the Watergate cover-up. Helms then recalls his education in Switzerland and Germany and at Williams College; his early career as a foreign correspondent in Berlin, during which he once lunched with Hitler; and his return to newspaper work in the United States. Helms served on the German desk at OSS headquarters in London; subsequently, he was assigned to Allen Dulless Berlin office in postwar Germany.
On his return to Washington, Helms assumed responsibility for the OSS carryover operations in Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe. He remained in this post until the Central Intelligence Agency was formed in 1947. At CIA, Helms served in many positions, ultimately becoming the organizations director from 1966 to 1973. He was appointed ambassador to Iran later that year and retired from government service in January 1977. It was often thought that Richard Helms, who served longer in the Central Intelligence Agency than anyone else, would never tell his story, but here it is-revealing, news-making, and with candid assessments of the controversies and triumphs of a remarkable career.
About the Author
After his retirement,
Richard Helms lived in Washington, D.C. He died in October 2002.
William Hood was born in Maine and entered the military in 1942. After serving in the Armored Force and military intelligence, he volunteered for the Office of Strategic Services; he was at the London headquarters of OSS until 1945, when he joined Allen Dulles in Switzerland. He remained in OSS carryover units until CIA was formed. He served abroad and as chief of station, with responsibilities involving Eastern Europe, the USSR, and Latin America, and was executive officer of the Counterintelligence Staff when he retired from CIA. He has published three novels and a nonfiction book, Mole. He divides his time among New York City, Maine, and East Hampton, New York.
From the Hardcover edition.