• The Ghost

  • The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton
  • By: Jefferson Morley
  • Narrated by: John Pruden
  • Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (452 ratings)

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The Ghost  By  cover art

The Ghost

By: Jefferson Morley
Narrated by: John Pruden
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Publisher's summary

From World War II to the Cold War, Angleton operated beyond the view of the public, Congress, and even the president. He unwittingly shared intelligence secrets with Soviet spy Kim Philby, a member of the notorious Cambridge spy ring. He launched mass surveillance by opening the mail of hundreds of thousands of Americans. He abetted a scheme to aid Israel's own nuclear efforts, disregarding US security. He committed perjury and obstructed the JFK assassination investigation. He oversaw a massive spying operation on the antiwar and black nationalist movements and he initiated an obsessive search for communist moles that nearly destroyed the Agency.

In The Ghost, investigative reporter Jefferson Morley tells Angleton's dramatic story, from his friendship with the poet Ezra Pound through the underground gay milieu of mid-century Washington to the Kennedy assassination to the Watergate scandal. From the agency's MKULTRA mind-control experiments to the wars of the Mideast, Angleton wielded far more power than anyone knew. Yet, during his seemingly lawless reign in the CIA, he also proved himself to be a formidable adversary to our nation's enemies, acquiring a mythic stature within the CIA that continues to this day.

©2017 Jefferson Morley (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Ghost

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Flawed Superpatriot

Angleton was the consummate spymaster, one of the founding fathers of the American intelligence apparatus. But he had blind spots, and truly believed he knew better than the constitution and that his calling elevated him above the normal limits of the law. Those egregious shadow organization exploits and rumors were real, and Angleton was behind most of them. Jefferson Morley's careful research and clear analysis brings the tale of this legendary man in the shadows into focus and maps his accomplishments, failures, and a few unindicted crimes. John Pruden's narration is spot on, even though he did misspeak the name of the president from 2017 instead of 1951 in one place (2:40 into chapter 12). A fascinating and sometimes scary study of one facet of the intelligence world.

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24 people found this helpful

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Decent info but tainted with liberal ideology!

Enjoyed the topics succinctly aligned with important milestones of Angleton’s career. I.e. Communism, Italian Operation, etc.

Decent read and provides in-depth narrative about Angleton’s academic influences on the CIA’s CI activities and internal politics.

Books falls short of giving depth and insight about any main characters with conservative views. Usually painting them as macho, simplistic , and/or lacking much wisdom. I.e. Eisenhower, Hoover, McCarthy.
Also apologetic and defiant in tone regarding American values of 1950s.
Of course as many of today’s books, every female character was a gifted genius while a victim of some sort. While many divorced, had affairs and manipulated men of power for their means - not a single critic of any progressives to include the Cambridge five.

Overall a C. I,d recommend getting a copy at the library rather than wasting a credit.

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23 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Did he mean "Truman"

Its kind of hard to take this book seriously when at around Chapter 12 02:38 the narrator states that In 1951 Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion met with President Trump and Walter Bedell Smith. Seems sloppy...

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Axe to Grind?

The controversial nature of Angleton does not lead to objective writing, however this is more of a People’s History of Angleton. According to Morley, Angleton is a pro-Nazi Zionist. The KGB always got the best of him, and the Yom Kippur War, Kennedy’s assassination, the failure of the Vietnam War, and modern NSA collections were some of the results of Angleton’s machinations.

Morley is not constrained by facts or nuance when omissions and distortions better prove his thesis.

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19 people found this helpful

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Secrecy Kills Democracy

Jefferson Morley has dawn every tax payer and citizen a great service through this work. His skill at turning complex research into accessible narrative benefits both the dilettante and expert readers alike.

If you work in government or politics, this is mandatory reading. I wish it was available 30 years ago when I started my career.

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13 people found this helpful

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This is a well written story of a fascinating man

This is a well written story of a fascinating man. Morley exposes crimes against the country but puts the man in context both personal and historical.

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Author starts with conclusion and then uses supposition to support his conclusion

Interesting to review history but Morley obviously set out to prove with innuendo and hearsay what he had decided from the start. Little emphasis was highlighted that the President of the US was AWOL with one of many paramours and using LSD Also where is the opprobrium for Ben Bradlee who was clearly aware of the presidents piccodilloes with his sister in law. ?? Is that responsible journalism. ??

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Important Facts

My suggestion is that you read this book with caution. In The Ghost, you will find a lot of important historical details; just double check these details with primary-source material.

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9 people found this helpful

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Shining light on an American enigma

What did you like best about this story?

Well written and presented. There's lots of conspiracy fodder here, but presented in a clear-headed way. Jefferson Morley fleshes out one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of spycraft, and lays out how James Angleton infected a nation with his virulent form of Cold War paranoia.

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7 people found this helpful

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Poorly written - avoid

Chaotic, disorganized. It’s an interesting subject, and yet somehow manages to dance around every interesting point without getting anywhere. Constantly using words like “legendary” to describe this man without backing it up with interesting stories about him. Big waste of time. Should have just read about this guy on Wikipedia.

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5 people found this helpful