Synopses & Reviews
andlt;iandgt;The Very Best Menandlt;/iandgt; is the story of the CIA's early days as told through the careers of four glamorous, daring, and idealistic men who ran covert operations for the government from the end of World War II to Vietnam. Evan Thomas re-creates the personal dramas and sometimes tragic lives of Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes, and Desmond FitzGerald, who risked everything to contain the Soviet threat.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Within the inner circles of Washington, they were regarded as the best and the brightest. They planned and acted to keep the country out of warand#8212;by stealth and and#8220;political actionand#8221; and to do by cunning and sleight of hand what great armies could not, must not be allowed to do. In the end, they were too idealistic and too honorable, and were unsuited for the dark, duplicitous life of spying. Their hubris and naand#239;vetand#233; led them astray, producing both sensational coups and spectacular blunders like the Bay of Pigs and the failed assassination attempts on foreign leaders in the early 1960s. Thomas draws on the CIA's own secret histories, to which he has had exclusive access, as well as extensive interviews, to bring to life a crucial piece of American history.
Review
"A brisk, readable, lively account of fifteen turbulent years of history . . . Informed, anecdotal, full of colorful details." -- andlt;iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"A jewel of a book." --
The Washington Post
Review
"A thoughtful, provocative, and absorbing book, as scrupulously fair as it is responsible, bringing new details and shedding new light on forgotten events and personalities of years past." -- andlt;iandgt;Chicago Tribuneandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"An elegantly crafted group biography of four CIA officers during its glory days, from 1947 to its decline after the mid-1960s." -- andlt;iandgt;The Christian Science Monitorandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"A jewel of a book." -- andlt;iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
A history of the CIA's origins discusses how the agency was formed to covertly monitor and counter communist activities, sharing behind-the-scenes information about how its agents worked hand-in-hand with the president to orchestrate critical political deals. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
Synopsis
The Very Best Men is the story of the CIA's early days as told through the careers of four glamorous, daring, and idealistic men who ran covert operations for the government from the end of World War II to Vietnam. Evan Thomas re-creates the personal dramas and sometimes tragic lives of Frank Wisner, Richard Bissell, Tracy Barnes, and Desmond FitzGerald, who risked everything to contain the Soviet threat.
Within the inner circles of Washington, they were regarded as the best and the brightest. They planned and acted to keep the country out of war -- by stealth and political action and to do by cunning and sleight of hand what great armies could not, must not be allowed to do. In the end, they were too idealistic and too honorable, and were unsuited for the dark, duplicitous life of spying. Their hubris and naivete led them astray, producing both sensational coups and spectacular blunders like the Bay of Pigs and the failed assassination attempts on foreign leaders in the early 1960s. Thomas draws on the CIA's own secret histories, to which he has had exclusive access, as well as extensive interviews, to bring to life a crucial piece of American history.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Evan Thomas andlt;/bandgt;is the author of andlt;iandgt;The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the C.I.A.andlt;/iandgt;; andlt;iandgt;Robert Kennedy: His Life; The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst and the Rush to Empire, 1989andlt;/iandgt;; andlt;iandgt;Sea of Thunder: The Last Great Naval Command, 1941-1945andlt;/iandgt;; and andlt;iandgt;John Paul Jones. andlt;/iandgt;His most recent book is andlt;iandgt;Ikeand#8217;s Bluff: President Eisenhowerand#8217;s Secret Battle to Save the Worldandlt;/iandgt;.