It’s great to read about the beginnings of the CIA. I had absolutely zero previous knowledge the of origins of the agency going in; the author does a great job of placing the characters in the context of the postwar years. There are parts of the book that read like a gripping spy thriller, highlighting the skill and ingenuity of the four men profiled. However, the characters don’t interact in the way I was expecting. The book reads less like a cohesive narrative, and more like the stems of 4 separate biographies spliced together into a single volume.
The Quiet Americans
Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War - a Tragedy in Three Acts
by Scott Anderson