The Spymasters: How the CIA's Directors Shape History and Guard the Future
Written by Chris Whipple
Narrated by Mark Bramhall
4/5
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About this audiobook
With unprecedented access to more than a dozen individuals who have made the life-and-death decisions that come with running the world’s most powerful and influential intelligence service, Chris Whipple tells the story of an agency that answers to the United States president alone, but whose activities—spying, espionage, and covert action—take place on every continent. At pivotal moments, the CIA acts as a counterforce against rogue presidents, starting in the mid-seventies with DCI Richard Helms’s refusal to conceal Richard Nixon’s criminality and through the Trump presidency when a CIA whistleblower ignited impeachment proceedings and armed insurrectionists assaulted the US Capitol.
Since its inception in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency has been a powerful player on the world stage, operating largely in the shadows to protect American interests. For The Spymasters, Whipple conducted extensive, exclusive interviews with nearly every living CIA director, pulling back the curtain on the world’s elite spy agencies and showing how the CIA partners—or clashes—with counterparts in Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. Topics covered in the book include attempts by presidents to use the agency for their own ends; simmering problems in the Middle East and Asia; rogue nuclear threats; and cyberwarfare.
A revelatory, well-researched history, The Spymasters recounts seven decades of CIA activity and elicits predictions about the issues—and threats—that will engage the attention of future operatives and analysts. Including eye-opening interviews with George Tenet, John Brennan, Leon Panetta, and David Petraeus, as well as those who’ve recently departed the agency, this is a timely, essential, and important contribution to current events.
Chris Whipple
Chris Whipple is an author, political analyst, and Emmy Award–winning documentary filmmaker. He is a frequent guest on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR, and has contributed essays to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Vanity Fair. His first book, The Gatekeepers, an analysis of the position of White House Chief of Staff, was a New York Times bestseller. His follow-up, The Spymasters, was based on interviews with nearly every living CIA Director and was critically acclaimed. Whipple lives in New York City with his wife Cary.
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Reviews for The Spymasters
41 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Hilarious! The CIA used to be seen as the bad guys who overthrew democratically elected governments across the globe, now that they try to overthrow democratically elected Trump because he's not engaging in pointless wars, the liberals love them! Ridiculous!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Ruined by a political agenda…clear bias for sure. there are better with out the bias
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book was great. And then it turned into a Trump attack at the end. And I’m not a trump voter but that lack of neutrality is sort of Anti CIA. Give the facts and a bit less quotes. Otherwise though very very informative.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent book. Easy to follow storyline. It covers all major global events.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The author swerved off the path to focus on President Trump in a partisan attack that diminished my enjoyment of the book. He doubled down on that in his afterward. He should Re title the book to “I think Trump is a commie” that would at least reflect the author’s bias
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Narration adds a lot to the understanding. Content is great review of events which I remember . Fills in a lot of blanks.