Last night my friend Russell loaned me a book called Wilderness of Mirrors: How the Byzantine Intrigues of the Secret War Between the CIA and KGB Seduced and Devoured Key Agents James Jesus Angleton and William King Harvey. Yeah, I know…long title. The book was written by then Newsweek reporter David C. Martin in 1980. I’m already finished with the book. It’s one of the best I’ve ever read. Of course, I didn’t keep up much with breaking news today because I was engrossed in this book.
I have no idea if the book is still in print but it reads at least as well as the best spy novels ever written; and it has the added virtue of being non-fiction.
The book was written 26 years ago and yet I found very little (almost none) of it to have been superseded by new facts. It’s just a very strong book that lays out the careers of Angleton and Harvey and thus, the biggest events of the CIA during the early Cold War.
Yet, as great as it was for an historical understanding, it left me more paranoid than ever.
Very little is as it appears, and even within the CIA no one is really sure of what the hell is going on. The lesson I take away is that we should be skeptical of virtually everything we read. Well, that, and the cable news is so superficial and impressionable as to be a positive evil. What’s on your mind?
If you liked that one, you should really check out the VERY best book on James Angleton, “Cold Warrior,” by Tom Mangold. It’sa fantastic biography on Angleton, as well as a history of the CIA, the mole hunts, the mail opening, and more.
I’ve read Wilderness of Mirrors and the Man Who Kept the Secrets as well, but I think “Cold Warrior” is the best re the “cabal” as he called it that ran the Agency during the Cold War years.
I also highly recommend “Portrait of a Cold Warrior” – a first person account by Joseph B. Smith, who started as an avowed, dedicated cold warrior, but ended his days with the Agency wondering strongly about the choices he and the Agency had made along the way.
And if you want to read a fascinating novel on Angleton that bears more truth than fiction, try “Orchids for Mother” (“Mother” being Angleton) by Aaron Latham. In the book, Latham suggests Angleton broke protocol and tipped off the Israelis just before the attack from Egypt that became known as the “Yom Kippur war.” The suggestion gets support from the Pike report. The pike committee said the CIA argued for 16 hours over four words in the report, regarding how the CIA had detected Egypt’s heightened security. It sounds like the CIA didn’t want the world to know it knew the war was coming, because Israel and its allies in government would be furious at the CIA for not trying to stop it. But it appears Angleton alone sent up a warning, which might have been the reason one of Colby’s early moves was to remove Angleton from handling the Israeli desk, which did not really belong in the purview of the Counterintelligence department anyway.
Btw – I met a bookstore owner the other day who said his uncle had been in the CIA and had said Wilderness of Mirrors was the best book on Angleton. But I suspect his uncle never read “Cold Warrior.”
His uncle also said when you join the CIA, they “correct” history for you. The nephew/bookstore owner didn’t wish to elaborate, and would say only that the CIA is not as nice as it’s painted to be in the media. I had to laugh. He surely didn’t need to tell ME.
And dang, Booman.
It really thrills me to see you reading this stuff! You’d love my bookshelves. Too bad you’re so far from Los Angeles!
Well, Lisa, I would love to take about a half of a year off and come and utilize your bookshelves….I am very sure it would be most exciting…;o)
Now booman, you do need a day off and do something that increases your knowledge. NO matter how old you become one can learn something always. For me this defination is called wisdom.
I believe that when one learns one increases their knowledge of current affairs and become more aware of the situation of just about everything.
To think with wisdom and with an open mind, is the most interesting person I would love to get to know. We could sit and debate issues with what ever one wants to drink and eat for hours on end…;o)
I would love to hear your report on this book…are you planning on it?
I just wished I were more close to retirement so I could do such a thing as just reading…This is one thing I am looking forward to. hugs
You’d love it!
And yeah – pretty impressive that he made it through the book in a day. It’s not that long, and it’s well written, but that’s still a lot of reading in one chunk!!