Why read The Ghost?

Book cover of The Ghost

Book description

"The best book ever written about the strangest CIA chief who ever lived." - Tim Weiner, National Book Award-winning author of Legacy of Ashes

A revelatory new biography of the sinister, powerful, and paranoid man at the heart of the CIA for more than three tumultuous decades.

CIA spymaster James…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Ghost as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Stephen Amidon

Author

Angleton, the long-serving director of counterespionage for the CIA, may not be a household name, but he is one of the pivotal characters of the Cold War. A Yale-educated poet who rubbed shoulders with Pound and Elliot, be joined the agency in its early days, rising through the ranks to become its most powerful figure. His incessant search for moles eventually drove him into a state of paranoia verging on insanity, but not before he had done untold damage to countless suspects. A brilliant and disturbing study of the corrupting ability of power.

From Stephen's 3 favorite reads in 2024.