The Spymasters

New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

“The best book about the CIA I’ve ever read.  Its revelations are eye-popping, alternately exhilarating and depressing…How Whipple managed to pull so much history together, how he extracted such a wealth of detail from his principal sources—the CIA leaders themselves—is quite simply mind-boggling.  This is an important book.  And one hell of a story.”
—Christopher Buckley, New York Times bestselling author of The White House Mess and Thank You for Smoking

“A genial, engaging portrait of the men and one woman who have run the C.I.A. over the past six decades….[Contains] a richly textured account of the operation targeting the Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyah….In weighing success and failure, Whipple offers measured, sympathetic, on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand tallies of the merits and demerits for each of his spymasters.”
—The New York Times

“A study of how the C.I.A. has at different times over the decades been both a target of presidential animus and a clandestine presidential plaything….All of this can make for some great reading….Whipple’s interviews give plenty of rope for some of the former spy chiefs to hang themselves.”
—Mark Mazzetti, Washington investigative correspondent for The New York Times and author of The Way of the Knife, writing in the digital weekly Air Mail

"A page-turner. Chris Whipple gives the reader tales of intrigue and masterfully tells the history of the nation’s spymasters and their relationships to presidents, and how those interactions shaped history…..An engaging read of politics, off-the-books plots, and struggles for CIA identity and access…Rating: 3.5 out of 4 trench coats."
—The Cipher Brief

“If you’re an American, The Spymasters is required reading.”
—Chicago Review of Books

“Whipple’s access and interviews are impressive [and his] exploration of the different dynamics of the directors themselves, the presidents they served, and the challenges each faced is fascinating….[The] writing is breezy, accessible, and compelling.”
—The Diplomatic Courier 

“Compelling…Chris Whipple does for the CIA and Washington DC what Plutarch did for those whose job it was to expand and defend the glory of Rome—paint an indelible portrait of how the servants of government seek to know and control the world….One theme emerges from the career of each director—how difficult it is to tell presidents anything they don’t want to hear.”
—Thomas Powers, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Man Who Kept the Secrets: Richard Helms and the CIA

"An expert chronicle of the CIA through the actions of its directors….This lively, opinionated history makes it clear that presidents and CIA directors sometimes deserve each other.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Riveting…a timely reminder of the outsized influence of our nation’s intelligence bureaucracy—and the men and women who live in this wilderness of mirrors. ‘They were all asked to do things they shouldn’t do,’ says Cynthia Helms, wife of the legendary CIA Director Richard Helms. Whipple explores these ethical quandaries with nuance and fairness.”
—Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames

“Fascinating…Whipple parts the curtains on the dark art to show the triumphs and failures, the personalities and rivalries of those who work in the shadows of espionage.”
—Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent for NBC News and bestselling author of The Greatest Generation

“Chris Whipple is an accomplished historian, hard-nosed journalist, and master storyteller…A must-read for anyone interested in America’s intelligence gathering and national security.”
—James A. Baker, III, 61st U.S. Secretary of State

“Whipple makes excellent use of insider accounts and provides enough color to keep readers turning the pages. This well-written and accessible survey illuminates a neglected role in American history.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Provides astute profiles of the men, and one woman, in charge of the modern Central Intelligence Agency, and the presidents for whom they have worked…Accurate, fair and informative.”
—John W. Dean, Nixon Administration White House Counsel and bestselling author of Conservatives Without Conscience

“Better than anyone, Chris Whipple knows how to root out the secrets buried deeply in the federal bureaucracy…When he gives the most secret of our agencies a good shaking the headline stories and secrets come tumbling out…This is the CIA with the bark off, and Washington reporting at its best.”
—Bob Schieffer, CBS News

“Engrossing…Whipple is at once clear-eyed and fair-minded while giving us a riveting read.”
—Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Very Best Men: The Daring Early Years of the CIA

“A highly readable, fair, and well researched history of the CIA over the past fifty years. Whipple comes neither to pillory the CIA nor to praise it but, rather, to understand it—and he fully succeeds.” 
—Max Boot, New York Times bestselling author The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam