Chiefly articles originally published in the New York review of books.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

These essays about U.S. intelligence services, from Thomas Powers -- acknowledged secret intelligence authority and Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist -- trace a history of brilliant successes, ghastly failures, and gripping uncertainties. They range from the exploits of Wild Bill Donovan during World War II, to the CIA's elaborate cold war struggles with the KGB, to debates about the role of secret intelligence in the post-Cold War world. Here too are analyses of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Kennedy assassination, William Casey's years as CIA director under Ronald Reagan, the Aldrich Ames scandal, and such urgent contemporary issues as whether the CIA is up to the challenge of defending America against terrorism.