The Spymasters: How the CIA's Directors Shape History and Guard the Future
Written by Chris Whipple
Narrated by Mark Bramhall
4/5
()
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.
Related to The Spymasters
Related audiobooks
The Ghosts of Langley: Into the CIA's Heart of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Deep: The FBI, CIA, and the Truth about America's Deep State Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farewell: The Greatest Spy Story of the Twentieth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life of a Spy: An Education in Truth, Lies, and Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, and why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop it Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More Stories from Langley: Another Glimpse inside the CIA Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At the Center of the Storm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Security Council Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spymaster's Prism: The Fight against Russian Aggression Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do about It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Madman Theory: Trump Takes On the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExceptional: Why the World Needs A Powerful America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crossfire Hurricane: Inside Donald Trump's War on the FBI Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truth to Power: A History of the U.S. National Intelligence Council Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Biographies For You
The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The White House Plumbers: The Seven Weeks That Led to Watergate and Doomed Nixon's Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lincoln Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A. Lincoln: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A House in the Sky: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mornings on Horseback Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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.