The Hidden Hand : 9781444351378

Since its inception in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency has played an outsized role in the political life of the United States, whether by formulating and implementing policy or by fueling popular culture and imagination. The Hidden Hand is an accessible and up-to-date history of the agency that succinctly takes the reader from its early days of intelligence gathering and analysis to its more recent involvement in the execution of foreign policy through covert operations, psychological warfare, and other programs. In manageable chapters and easy-to-digest prose, the author -- a respected scholar who has researched intelligence for more than 30 years and also served as a high-ranking officer in the intelligence community -- covers all aspects of the CIA from its mission to its performance to its record. He draws on the latest evidence and research to assess the agency's successes and failures over the last half century, highlighting key operations of the past and present. Throughout, his assessment is balanced and thorough with an eye on the complex and controversial nature of the subject. This is a masterful account that demythologizes the CIA's role in America's global affairs while addressing its integral place within American political and popular culture.