"The CIA: An Imperial History" by Hugh Wilford is a compelling exploration of the Central Intelligence Agency's role in shaping global politics. With a rich narrative and thorough research, Wilford provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of the CIA's operations, strategies, and impact on world events.

One of the book's standout features is its ability to balance detailed historical accounts with engaging storytelling. Wilford's writing style is accessible and captivating, making it easy for readers to follow complex geopolitical developments. He effectively weaves together anecdotes, declassified documents, and interviews to present a nuanced view of the CIA's activities.

The book covers a broad range of topics, from the agency's involvement in the Cold War to its covert operations in various regions. Wilford does an excellent job of highlighting key moments in the CIA's history, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Iran-Contra affair. His analysis is thorough and balanced, offering insights into both the successes and failures of the agency.

One of the strengths of "The CIA: An Imperial History" is its focus on the human element of intelligence work. Wilford delves into the lives and motivations of the individuals who shaped the CIA, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the agency's culture and ethos. This humanizing approach adds depth to the narrative and allows readers to connect with the material on a more personal level.

The book also excels in its critical examination of the ethical implications of the CIA's actions. Wilford doesn't shy away from addressing the moral complexities of intelligence work, prompting readers to consider the broader consequences of the agency's interventions. This balanced perspective is one of the reasons why the book resonates with a wide audience.

Overall, "The CIA: An Imperial History" is an insightful and thought-provoking read. Wilford's meticulous research, engaging narrative, and balanced analysis make it a standout work in the field of intelligence history. It's a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the intricacies of the CIA and its impact on global affairs.

The CIA, the US’s storied intelligence agency, is known to most of us through breathless, we’re-saving-the-world fictional portrayals which contrast with real-life ugliness (Gitmo, various regime change plots, possible and attempted assassinations). I picked up this book to learn a bit more about it, to see if I could separate fact from myth, and because I’ve become much more curious about the CIA’s direct and deliberate role in shaping culture around the world in the 1960s (-1980s). Well, this wasn’t really the book for that: that part, barely a section, is a very slim one somewhere in the middle.

What this is is really a bio of the great founding men of the CIA, an explanation of the mythos that drove them (mainly Rudolph Kipling’s adventurism in imperialism), and a review of the agency’s role as it gradually shifted from intelligence-gathering to covert actions—very much driven by US presidents, and much accelerated post 9/11. *The CIA* is very heavy on these personalities, how it was their personal beliefs that created the agency’s culture, with juicy stories about them and how they made their way in the world. And it makes that the whole story of the CIA, more or less, even as it describes the agency’s role as the US took its place post-WWII as the new secret imperialist while Britain and France withdrew: the US—either unwillingly or unwittingly—fit itself into the holes left behind by these old-world imperialists, and the CIA played a large part in that. It’s a compelling argument, and one that Wilford makes well.

But, like I say, this is a book about a particular class of US men, and if that’s the story of the CIA, this feels very narrow to me, positioned as I am outside of the country and culture. While an interesting read for what it is, it’s not relevant to my questions about the CIA (as outlined above). That’s only my view; this book will obviously make great reading for those who *are* keen to learn more about these men.

Thank you to Basic Books and NetGalley for early access to a DRC.

While there are a huge number of books that cover the history of the CIA, this one stands well against the others. It takes different approach than most books on the CIA, in that attends to focus the history around a series of CIA employees and groups.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing style is engaging and the material is fascinating.

Wilford looks at the history of the CIA through several of its notable founders and explores how the backgrounds of these (mostly) men dictated how the CIA developed and interacted with the world. As someone who is very fond of calling the American empire exactly what it is, this history of the CIA shows just how imperial the US has acted around the world since World War II.

Wilford does an excellent job of not only telling the story of the CIA, but also highlighting the people that made the CIA what it is. His reconstructions of the characters are vivid and easy to read in a way that feels unique. Most histories of this kind get bogged down in the terminology and the historical facts, but this is a true work of narrative history that highlights human agency in a compelling way.

At times infuriating and fascinating, The CIA: An Imperial History, is a testament to the writing skills of its author while also providing a new and interesting method of examining the history and impact of the CIA in the modern era. This is a must read for anyone interested in how American became and maintains its empire both at home and abroad.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Basic Books for an advanced copy of this history of the Central Intelligence Agency that is told through the careers of some of its most famous and sometimes infamous players highlighting the mindset and attitudes that colored many of the actions and activities, activities that are still reverberating today.

There is a phrase that started appearing in American media during the 90's probably said by military sources to friendly journalists, a phrase that was used to describe why certain actions seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. Mission creep. Where a certain program or military operations seems to just get larger, a six month operation becomes a year, than a decade, more forces are needed, more, more and more. Mission creep is a good phrase for the history of the Central Intelligence Agency. Formed after the war as a organization to gather and analyze intelligence, soon the Agency was arming various groups, working to overthrow or prop up governments, and spying on people inside America for dangerous thinking. The Red Scare and the paranoia of the era explains some of it, but much of the mission creep can be explained on the people brought into the Agency, and their attitudes and thoughts about the world. Even people who once thought that the idea of a one world government was the only solution, soon began to see the threat of communism in everything, and these lofty ideas went to the wayside. Hugh Wilford, a Professor at California State University, Long Beach and writer of many books on espionage has in The CIA: An Imperial History, written about the ideas, attitudes, mistakes and even a few successes that the agency has had, while furthering the dreams of an American empire, dreams that are still haunting us today.

The book is broken into six chapters, with one person being the focus and explaining different actions that the Central Intelligence Agency has undertaken. Many of the names. James Jesus Angelton, Kermit Roosevelt, and even recent former Director Gina Haspel will be familiar, some are a little deeper cut, but their actions might be known. Wilford looks at these people and there backgrounds, the Eastern aristocracy, clubs and schools they shared, with a mix of Old World we know better than most ideas. In the case of Edward Lansdale the missionary zeal he took in bringing people into line with the American ideal. Each chapter has a theme Regime change, or bolstering, publicity of propaganda, counter intelligence, and even the gathering of intelligence. Wilford uses this to show how the simple act of gathering intelligence as planned led to targeted assassinations, an industrial complex based on keeping secrets, failures and blow backs and much more.

I have read a lot of books on espionage, fiction, fictional histories, and nonfiction, but this one of the better ones that I have read as Wilford, is not afraid to point out internal logic problems in people's thinking, and why certain actions were allowed. One can see the world changing as Wilford writes, leading to the rise of conspiracies, Kennedy and the all-powerful threat of the CIA, and even the rise of the police state that is modern America. Wilford is a very good writer who knows his stuff, and though a lot of what is presented is not new, Wilford uses this information to back up his claims of America making a world not in our image, but as one that America could lord over.

Recommended for history fans, especially espionage fans. I can see a lot of people being upset by the conclusions that Wilford comes to, but it is very hard to argue with facts, and one only has to look out the window at the world right now and see that maybe if these guys with their great ideas hadn't been able to muck about the world, things might not be as bad.