| The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA Contributor(s): Thomas, Evan (Author) |
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ISBN: 141653797X ISBN-13: 9781416537977 Publisher: Simon & Schuster OUR PRICE: $18.00 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2006 Annotation: From the author of "The Man to See" and the coauthor of "The Wise Men" comes the story of the CIA's early days--before it became The Company. Thomas' tale is told through the careers of four men who ran covert operations for the government from the end of World War II to Vietnam. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - 20th Century - Political Science | Intelligence & Espionage - True Crime | Espionage |
| Dewey: 327.12 |
| Physical Information: 1.08" H x 5.58" W x 8.46" (0.89 lbs) 432 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1950-1999 - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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 naïveté 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Thomas, Evan: - Evan Thomas is the author of The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the C.I.A.; Robert Kennedy: His Life; The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst and the Rush to Empire, 1989; Sea of Thunder: The Last Great Naval Command, 1941-1945; and John Paul Jones. His most recent book is Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World. |