The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government - Couverture souple

Talbot, David

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0008162077 ISBN 13 : 9780008162078

Editeur : William Collins, 2015

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

“A Cold War villain of realpolitik whose successes and blunders were unrivaled. As framed by Talbot, Dulles’s extra-legal interventions, coups, slush funds, and ex-Nazi collaborations were as much pro-corporate as anti-Communist, more Cheneyish than Nixonian.... He’d fit right into our globalized, subcontracted, and hypersurveilled era.” (New York Magazine)

“Dulles is unmasked as the backstage manipulator of US policy (foreign and domestic) from the Cold War up to his skillful defense of the highly suspect Warren Commission report. Those who scoff at conspiracy theories might have a change of mind after reading this book.” (Boston Globe, Pick of the Week)

“A frightening biography of power, manipulation, and outright treason...The story of Allen Dulles and the power elite that ran Washington, D.C., following World War II is the stuff of spy fiction...All engaged American citizens should read this book and have their eyes opened.” (Kirkus, starred review)

“A damning biography—of the CIA’s longest standing director—and an exposé of American politics.... One would be hard pressed to find a book that is better at evoking the strange and apocalyptic atmospherics of the early Cold War years in America.... Neither le Carré nor Graham Greene could do any better.” (Daily Beast)

“Offers a portrait of a black-and-white Cold War-era world full of spy games and nuclear brinkmanship.” (Mother Jones)

“This year’s best spy thriller isn’t fiction — it’s history.... By the time ‘The Devil’s Chessboard’ eventually climaxes with the events that unfolded in Dallas in 1963, Talbot’s argument that Dulles had both the power and temperament to execute such a plot is more than believable.” (Salon)

“A chilling psychological depiction.... The vast surveillance system so dramatically revealed to the world by Edward Snowden could never have come to pass without the culture of fanatical secrecy and habitual lawlessness handed down by Dulles and his loyal agents.” (Justyn Dillingham, Bookslut.com)

“This aptly titled book portrays Allen Dulles as the dark prince of the Cold War who manipulated the media, deceived presidents, helped stir up coups... [and might] have been involved in Kennedy’s assassination. Readers who enjoy espionage’s dark history will have a tough time putting this book down.” (Library Journal)

“Essential reading, especially for readers with even a passing interest in post-WW2 U.S. foreign policy.” (CounterPunch)

Quatrième de couverture

From the founder of Salon and the author of the New York Times bestseller Brothers, an explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful—and secretive—colossus in Washington.

America’s greatest untold story: the United States’ rise to world dominance under the guile of Allen Welsh Dulles, the longest-serving director of the CIA.

Drawing on revelatory new materials—including recently discovered U.S. government documents, U.S. and European intelligence sources, the personal correspondence and journals of Allen Dulles’s wife and mistress, and exclusive interviews with the children of prominent CIA officials—David Talbot reveals the underside of one of America’s most towering and influential figures.

Dulles’s decade as the director of the CIA was a dark period in American politics. The spymaster saw himself as above the nation’s laws and elected leaders, manipulating and subverting American presidents in the pursuit of his personal interests and those of the wealthy elite he counted as his friends and clients—colluding with Nazi war criminals and Mafiosi in the process. Talbot charges that Dulles utilized the same ruthless tactics he employed abroad—targeting foreign leaders for assassination and overthrowing nationalist governments not in line with his political aims—to further his goals at home, and offers shocking new evidence regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

An exposé of American power that is as disturbing as it is timely, The Devil’s Chessboard is a provocative and gripping story of the rise of the national security state—and the battle for America’s soul.

Advance Praise for The Devil’s Chessboard

“A frightening biography of power, manipulation, and outright treason. . . . The story of Allen Dulles and the power elite that ran Washington, D.C., following World War II is the stuff of spy fiction. . . . All engaged American citizens should read this book and have their eyes opened.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Praise for Brothers

“A fearless, passionate, angry book . . . the story of how the Kennedy brothers tried to change the world.”—The New York Times Book Review

“David Talbot’s riveting account of the Kennedy administration is heavy drama . . . brilliant journalism.”—People, Critic’s Choice review

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: William Collins
• Date d'édition: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0008162077
• ISBN 13: 9780008162078
• Reliure: Broché
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 704