- Title:
-
The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War
- Written by:
-
Scott Anderson
- Read by:
-
Robertson Dean; Scott Anderson
- Format:
-
Unabridged CD Audio Book
- Number of CDs:
-
18
- Duration:
-
22 hours 3 minutes
- Published:
-
May 01 2021
- Available Date:
-
May 01 2021
- Age Category:
-
Adult
- ISBN:
-
9781867531401
- Genres:
-
Non-fiction; American; History; Military
- Publisher:
-
Bolinda/Macmillan audio
Qty
Format
Price
Bolinda price
The Quiet Americans is a gripping history of the early years of the Cold War, the CIA’s covert battles against communism and the tragic consequences which still affect America and the world today.
At the end of World War II, the United States dominated the world militarily, economically and in moral standing – seen as the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But the Soviet Union was already executing a plan to expand and foment revolution around the world. The American government’s strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly-formed CIA.
The Quiet Americans chronicles the exploits of four spies who ran covert operations across the globe, trying to outwit the ruthless KGB in Berlin, parachuting commandos into Eastern Europe and directing wars against Communist insurgents in Asia. But their efforts often went awry, thwarted by a combination of stupidity and ideological rigidity – and more profoundly, the decision to abandon American ideals.
By the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union had a stranglehold on Eastern Europe, the US had begun its disastrous intervention in Vietnam and America, the beacon of democracy, was overthrowing democratically elected governments and earning the hatred of much of the world. All of this culminated in an act of betrayal and cowardice that would lock the Cold War into place for decades to come.
‘A darkly entertaining tale about American espionage, set in an era when Washington’s fear and skepticism about the agency resembles our climate today.’
New York Times
'Anderson’s look at four men who ran covert operations around the globe after World War II is as thrilling as it is tragic, as each man confronts the moral compromises he made in the name of democracy.'
Washington Post