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Inside the C.I.A.
- Narrated by: Chris Lane
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
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"This tour is never dull, especially since it features so much .007 gadgetry, from water-spraying silent drills to eavesdropping devices that work by zapping laser beams through windows." (Los Angeles Times)
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- By: Thomas Maier
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Mafia Spies is the definitive account of America’s most remarkable espionage plots ever - with CIA agents, mob hitmen, “kompromat” sex, presidential indiscretion, and James Bond-like killing devices together in a top-secret mystery full of surprise twists and deadly intrigue. In the early 1960s, two top gangsters, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, were hired by the CIA to kill Cuba’s Communist leader, Fidel Castro, only to wind up murdered themselves amidst Congressional hearings and a national debate about the JFK assassination.
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Stick to history
- By Amazon Customer on 05-04-19
By: Thomas Maier
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Area 51
- An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to 19 men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to 55 additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, 32 of whom lived and worked there for extended periods.
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Disappointing
- By Mike From Mesa on 06-06-11
By: Annie Jacobsen
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Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
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Slow At Times But Always Horrifying And Engaging
- By Gillian on 02-20-18
By: Steve Coll
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First Platoon
- A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a story that starts off close and goes very big. The initial part of the story might sound familiar at first: it is about a platoon of mostly 19-year-old boys sent to Afghanistan, and an experience that ends abruptly in catastrophe. Their part of the story folds into the next: inexorably linked to those soldiers and never comprehensively reported before is the US Department of Defense’s quest to build the world’s most powerful biometrics database, with the ability to identify, monitor, catalog, and police people all over the world.
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An eye opener
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-21
By: Annie Jacobsen
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Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
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Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
- By Steve M on 05-24-19
By: Annie Jacobsen
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Black Ops
- The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
- By: Ric Prado
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism.
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Impressive and Inspiring!
- By medardo on 03-12-22
By: Ric Prado
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The Fifties
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Fifties is a sweeping social, political, economic, and cultural history of the 10 years that Halberstam regards as seminal in determining what our nation is today. Halberstam offers portraits of not only the titans of the age: Eisenhower, Dulles, Oppenheimer, MacArthur, Hoover, and Nixon; but also of Harley Earl, who put fins on cars; Dick and Mac McDonald and Ray Kroc, who mass-produced the American hamburger; Kemmons Wilson, who placed his Holiday Inns along the nation's roadsides; and more.
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one of the very best
- By Chester Chellman on 09-25-18
By: David Halberstam
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Operation Paperclip
- The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the chaos following World War II, the US government faced many difficult decisions, including what to do with the Third Reich's scientific minds. These were the brains behind the Nazis' once-indomitable war machine. So began Operation Paperclip, a decades-long, covert project to bring Hitler's scientists and their families to the United States. Many of these men were accused of war crimes, and others had stood trial at Nuremberg; one was convicted of mass murder and slavery.
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The Osenberg list
- By Jean on 08-07-14
By: Annie Jacobsen
What listeners say about Inside the C.I.A.
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- doublebullout
- 08-14-04
Pre- 9/11 look at CIA's strengths and weaknesses
Sometimes fascinating, sometimes boring, and ultimately somewhat tragic, Kessler's review of the CIA provides some valuable context for readers of the 9/11 Commission report. Written before 1999, this book has little to say about terrorism, and even less to say about the direction of the CIA under Woolsey in the Clinton years. Kessler devotes a large amount of time to subjects like Iran-Contra, Aldrich Ames, the contrasting styles of Casey and Webster, and the basic structure of the CIA. The reader will get a good feel for the CIA's culture, as well as a more realistic (that is, less fictionalized and romantic) view of what the CIA does and how it operates.
Quibbles:
The narrator is, frankly, not very dynamic. Kessler also repeats some details relentlessly; the controversy over the sale of CIA-themed coffee cups and the re-defection of Vitaly Yurchenko are two particularly annoying examples. The combination of a dull, lifeless narration with frequent repetition of details occasionally makes the book a bit boring. Nevertheless, if you are interested in the CIA's history up to about 1994 this is a must-have book.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Joe Pawlowski
- 03-13-06
Good But Not Thrilling
This audiobook features good information on the history, organization and politics of the CIA. However, it would have been more interesting if the author had written more about covert activities.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Richard Kaszeta
- 03-09-06
Underwhelmed
While there was a lot of good material in this book, I'm not sure I'd recommend it:
1. The reader for this book was poor, and had difficulty pronouncing words
2. Kessler's writing is pretty repetitive. Seriously, I counted six times that we're reminded of the fact that we don't spy on Great Britain or Australia, and several other facts are repeated to a ridiculous degree.
3. Kessler also has a tendency to wander off on off-topic tangents, such as almost 10 minutes discussing the shortcomings of late Soviet era hotels, which really doesn't have anything to do with the CIA
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Don
- 12-15-04
Painfully boring
After sitting through the first half of this audio book I found it almost impossible to sit through part two. The amount of detail captured in the book is way too much for the casual listener who's looking for anything but an in depth history of the CIA. The book gives a thorough explanation of what all the CIA's departments do on a day to day basis which turns out to be really boring like most other office (and government) jobs. There's not much about covert action in the book at all which is more of what I was looking for. The reading was dull and didn't engage me at all but I'm not sure if it was the content or the monotone reading. The book is definitely thorough, but at the expense of being interesting. If tons of detail is what you're looking for then you may enjoy this book. It's not bad, just dry.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Chris
- 01-11-06
Half and half...
I give four stars to the book and one to the reader. This is why there are professionals who read books. The author has a lisp that made me wince every time he would get to CIA (or thee eye a). Someone really should have talked him into getting Scott Brick or the like to handle this long book. Subject matter was great otherwise.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Chandler
- 02-24-05
My take
I thought I'd hate the book when the reader started. He had a lisp, and talked about the thee-IA. He loses soon loses the lisp - which supprised me, and did an okay job.
The book ranges from being very interesting to mind numbing detail about seemingly irrelevant details. For example, a fair amount of time is given detailing Casey's personal life, including dating and marriage plans.
Not a bad book if the CIA or spying in general interest you, but it won't go down as one of your all time best listens.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Robert
- 04-01-04
Will make 007 look like a mummies boy
If you like the underworld of spying, espionage and covert action, you will love this audio book. Explores every facet of the CIA, from the structure, inner working to covert missions. Will keep you tuned in for hours.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lynn
- 09-21-11
A Look Back
Ronald Kessler’s Inside the CIA is an interesting book. He has written a number of informative books including The Secrets of the FBI (2011), In the President’s Secret Service (2010) and The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI (2003). All are very good and informative and this volume is no exception except that it is outdated. Published in 1994, it is an excellent period piece and provides insight into the CIA’s workings during that era. If one is looking for a more current perspective, this book may not fill the bill. The reading of Chris Lane is good.
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1 person found this helpful
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- John
- 12-21-23
Paper pushing and interoffice whining or bragging. My God...
This author turned 007 into 00-Karen. Bunch of people complaining about each other and bragging about the things they do well. A book about who has the biggest "department" and explaining how theirs is better than the others. I cannot believe how bad this author wrote a book about real life spies. No interesting stories. Just explanations about how the bureaucracy works. They got an actor who is just as droll. The performer makes ancient text to speech bots look like Oscar worthy performances.
Avoid this book at all costs unless you love vague government politics and yearn for vague rehashings of ancient Watergate stories.
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- Edgar A.
- 10-10-23
If you are a starter, you may like this audiobook
If you are a starter, you definitely may read this book and audiobook.
The author only describes events as a whole without performing a true study on the field.
If you want to have an start point you should definitely have to listen this. But to be fair, only describes the big picture,
Too much errors on their topics and descriptions, too many conspiracies and common knowledge and disinformation.
Intelligence is not a game of spies.
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