Synopses & Reviews
With the disastrous intelligence failures of the last few years still fresh in Americans' minds and to all appearances still continuing there has never been a more urgent need for a book like this.
In Burn Before Reading, Admiral Stansfield Turner, the CIA director under President Jimmy Carter, takes the reader inside the Beltway to examine the complicated, often strained relationships between presidents and their CIA chiefs. From FDR and "Wild Bill" Donovan to George W. Bush and George Tenet, twelve pairings are studied in these pages, and the results are eye-opening and provocative. Throughout, Turner offers a fascinating look into the machinery of intelligence gathering, revealing how personal and political issues often interfere with government busines and the nation's safety.
Review
"Adm. Stansfield Turner show[s] that the activities of the CIA are determined not by organizational charts, however they're redrawn, but by human relationships, personal integrity or lack thereof and the rapport between the president and the director of central intelligence." Washington Post
Review
"Revealing in all sorts of ways." Wall Street Journal
Review
"Revealing in all sorts of ways." Wall Street Journal
Review
"Adm. Stansfield Turner show[s] that the activities of the CIA are determined not by organizational charts, however they're redrawn, but by human relationships, personal integrity or lack thereof and the rapport between the president and the director of central intelligence." Washington Post
Synopsis
The former director of the Central Intelligence Agency looks back on the long and complicated relationship between the U.S. presidents and their CIA chiefs, from World War II to the present day, analyzing the decisions that have shaped the intelligence community, how intelligence gathering works, and how politics and personal issues interfere with government business. Reprint.
Synopsis
In this "thoughtful, entertaining, and often insightful" book, a former CIA director explores the delicate give-and-take between the Oval Office and Langley. With the disastrous intelligence failures of the last few years still fresh in Americans minds--and to all appearances still continuing--there has never been a more urgent need for a book like this.
In Burn Before Reading, Admiral Stansfield Turner, the CIA director under President Jimmy Carter, takes the reader inside the Beltway to examine the complicated, often strained relationships between presidents and their CIA chiefs. From FDR and "Wild Bill" Donovan to George W. Bush and George Tenet, twelve pairings are studied in these pages, and the results are eye-opening and provocative. Throughout, Turner offers a fascinating look into the machinery of intelligence gathering, revealing how personal and political issues often interfere with government business--and the nation's safety.
Synopsis
With the disastrous intelligence failures of the last few years still fresh in Americans' minds and to all appearances still continuing there has never been a more urgent need for a book like this.
In Burn Before Reading, Admiral Stansfield Turner, the CIA director under President Jimmy Carter, takes the reader inside the Beltway to examine the complicated, often strained relationships between presidents and their CIA chiefs. From FDR and "Wild Bill" Donovan to George W. Bush and George Tenet, twelve pairings are studied in these pages, and the results are eye-opening and provocative. Throughout, Turner offers a fascinating look into the machinery of intelligence gathering, revealing how personal and political issues often interfere with government busines and the nation's safety.
About the Author
Admiral Stansfield Turner served as director of central intelligence from 1977 to 1981. He lives in Washington, D.C.