Book Review | CIA: An Annotated Checklist

Central Intelligence Agency: An Annotated Checklist

Prepared by Dr. Walter Pforzheimer, April 1996

Dr. Walter Pforzheimer was the first curator of the CIA’s famous Historical Intelligence Collection. Through his efforts, this collection is known to libraries throughout the world. A scholar in his own right, the late Dr. Pforzheimer is often known as the Dean of Intelligence Literature. Here is Dr. Pforzheimer’s list of the best available books about the Central Intelligence Agency.

Ranelagh, John. The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA. (Revised and updated). New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.
This is the “trade, large paperback” edition, and much to be preferred over the original 1986 hard cover edition, to which some corrections have been made. This is probably the best single book on the CIA. It covers from the beginnings in the Truman administration until the resignation of Director Casey early in 1987; the subsequent failure of the Gates nomination; and the appointment of Judge Webster as Director.

Gates, Robert M. From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
This book commences with Gates’ arrival on duty at CIA in 1966 and basically ends with the bitter battle over his confirmation as Director of Central Intelligence in October 1991. It describes his years as a CIA analyst (and Soviet expert); his years on the National Security Council staff and as Deputy National Security Adviser to both Presidents Reagan and Bush; his advancement in CIA to the positions of Deputy Director for Intelligence, and ultimately Director of Central Intelligence.

From the Shadows is arguably the most important book on the CIA of its kind. It is not a book of wiring diagrams or many organizational details. Rather, its greatest contribution is on CIA’s substantive work in the field of Soviet political, military, and economic affairs, showing where CIA was more often correct than many writers have previously been willing to admit, but still showing when CIA substantive production was in some measure erroneous.

This volume is well written---straight-forward, hard hitting, and accurate (in part through the release of CIA documents in the fields under discussion). The book’s sections on Iran, and then Iran-Contra, the Casey Directorship, with the poignant pages on Casey’s last illness and death, are well worth careful perusal. Of particular value is Gates’ concluding section, “Reflections”, in which the author briefly discusses his perception of the five Presidents under whom he served, and their use and views on intelligence.

Montague, Ludwell Lee. General Walter Bedell Smith as Director of Central Intelligence October 1950-February 1953. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992.
This is the second volume in the DCI Historical Series that CIA has declassified for publication. It covers one of the most important periods in CIA’s formative years under one of its greatest Directors. Not on this list, and not recommended, is the first volume of this series, The Central Intelligence Agency: An Instrument of Government, to 1950 by Professor Arthur B. Darling, not because Allen Dulles disagreed with its approach, but because it really doesn’t measure up to a desired standard. Also not included is the forthcoming DCI Historical Series release of Allen Welsh Dulles as Director of Central Intelligence. It seems to be too pedantic and bureaucratic to make it a worthwhile contribution. For the Dulles period, it would perhaps be better to read Dulles’ own book, The Craft of Intelligence; or the recent volume by Peter Grose, Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994), beginning with chapter 12.

Andrew, Christopher. For the President’s Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
Professor Christopher Andrew of Cambridge University is a well-known and respected writer on many aspects of intelligence. This book is unique since it focuses on the interrelation between the President, the DCI, and CIA itself. The reader might well start with chapter 5 on President Truman and the establishment of CIG/CIA.

CIA. Inside CIA’s Private World: Declassified Articles from the Agency’s Internal Journal, 1955-1992. Selected and edited by H. Bradford Westerfield. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995.
In 1955, CIA established its in-house, classified quarterly journal, Studies in Intelligence. Several hundred of the articles which have appeared in Studies have now been declassified; some 32 of them have been included in this useful book, selected by Professor Westerfield, a senior professor of political science at Yale. The articles in this volume cover a gamut of CIA functions, stressing collection, analysis, and counterintelligence, and thus present an excellent compendium of what the Agency has done and how, rather than a date by date historical wiring diagram. Unfortunately, the book’s first article (on imagery) is so dreary as almost to scare off the reader from the rest of the book. But there is much in this volume of great interest; the favorite of many readers is the lengthy “Clandestinity and Current Intelligence” by William R. Johnson, a thoughtful, veteran officer.

CIA History Staff. CIA Cold War Records: The CIA Under Harry Truman. Washington, DC: CIA, 1994.
Edited by Dr. Michael Warner of the CIA History Staff, this documentary volume was prepared for the Intelligence History Symposium, “The Origin and Development of the CIA in the Administration of Harry S. Truman.” The symposium was jointly sponsored by CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and its Institute in March 1994. The volume consists of some eighty one items, dated from 1945 to President Truman’s farewell remarks at CIA in November 1952. For the formative years of CIA, these documents present an interesting history of the Agency’s establishment, although in documentary form except for a short introductory essay.

Meyer, Cord. Facing Reality: From World Federalism to the CIA. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
For those interested in CIA history, one should start with the chapter on Meyer’s 1951 entrance into the CIA, where he remained for twenty five years. As head of CIA’s International Organizations Division, much of his work dealt with CIA’s covert action role in the Cold War. Particularly interesting are his chapters on CIA’s originally covert Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.

Colby, William E. & Peter Forbath. Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978.
Commencing with his career in OSS, where he parachuted behind enemy lines in both France and Norway, the late Bill Colby then details his CIA career in which he rose from case officer and other assignments to become Director of Central Intelligence during its then most troubled and controversial times in the mid-1970s--the aftermath of Watergate and the Congressional hearings into alleged misdeeds of CIA and the Intelligence Community. This book fans the flames of controversy which engulfed Colby’s Directorship, particularly as to his views on intelligence in a democratic society and on certain aspects of intelligence methodology.

Persico, Joseph E. Casey: From the OSS to the CIA. New York: Viking Penguin, 1990.
Casey’s role as Director of Central Intelligence begins in chapter 15, so that more than half of this volume covers his CIA career. Earlier sections cover Casey’s important work in OSS. Probably written too soon after the events to evaluate Casey’s role fully, particularly in Iran-Contra, nevertheless the book’s well-written, chatty style, and considerable access to Casey family papers and support, render an important initial contribution, favorable to Casey as DCI.

CIA History Staff. CIA Cold War Records: CORONA - America’s First Satellite Program, Washington, DC, 1995.
Edited by Dr. Kevin C. Ruffner of the CIA History Staff, this volume was prepared for the May 1995 public conference co-sponsored by CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence and the Space Policy Institute of The George Washington University. At that time, some 2,000,000 feet of CORONA photography were released through the National Archives for public study. This book, with several photographs from the CORONA films, consists of twenty eight declassified reports from the inception of the CORONA program in 1957 until its ending in 1972. These documents reveal a fascinating history of the program which pioneered the way in satellite reconnaissance, and the role of the CIA, the Air Force, and American industry as a closely knit team in that great, successful effort.