Editorial Review:

In "Executive Secrets", William J. Daugherty, a retired senior officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, combines unique inside perspectives with sober objectivity in judging the true nature and scope of C.I.A. covert actions during the last half century. Daugherty cites congressional investigations, declassified documents, and his own experiences in covert action policy and oversight to convincingly demonstrate how the C.I.A.'s covert programs have been conducted at the request of the president since the agency was founded in 1947.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

Should've been interesting. . .:

This book had a lot of promise. Covert action? Very cool. The problem is, it's horribly written. There's an awful lot of sloppy mistakes and repetition. It's loaded with sentence fragments and poor grammer. (Or, "the sentences are fragments and bad, bad written with.") It doesn't interfere with the substance, and maybe I'm being too particular that I couldn't focus on the subject--but I couldn't. It was obnoxious, distracting, and I finally put the book down about three chapters from the end. I'm even a... more info

Insider Hubris and the Blinders of Denial:

"Executive Secrets" reviews the history of covert action since WW2 and provides information the general reader might not have had (contrary to other reviews, there are no "secret" secrets in this book, since the author limits his examples to declassified data approved by the CIA, which eliminates much information in the public domain that the agency can not or will not acknowledge, One good recent example of the impact of this policy is the an attempt by former CIA officer Melissa Mahle to deliver a speech... more info

Secret History of Espionage Revealed:

The secret history of our undisclosed espionage and covert agents who defend our liberty

Rigorous and Sound:

Titles like this may smack of conspiracy theory, but very rarely do authors choose their own titles. A marketing team's title should not be confused with the authors' intent. In this case, a slightly flashy title fits the content--intelligence work is often duller and at the same time more exciting than its glamorous reputation.
This point is made clear by the authors of this excellent book, developed by a fine writer and made infinitely credible by an author of unquestioned expertise. Secrets are... more info

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