The Good Spy
Books | Political Science / Intelligence & Espionage
4
Kai Bird
The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history – a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West. On April 18, 1983, a bomb exploded outside the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The attack was a geopolitical turning point. It marked the beginning of Hezbollah as a political force, but even more important, it eliminated America’s most influential and effective intelligence officer in the Middle East – CIA operative Robert Ames. What set Ames apart from his peers was his extraordinary ability to form deep, meaningful connections with key Arab intelligence figures. Some operatives relied on threats and subterfuge, but Ames worked by building friendships and emphasizing shared values – never more notably than with Yasir Arafat’s charismatic intelligence chief and heir apparent Ali Hassan Salameh (aka “The Red Prince”). Ames’ deepening relationship with Salameh held the potential for a lasting peace. Within a few years, though, both men were killed by assassins, and America’s relations with the Arab world began heading down a path that culminated in 9/11, the War on Terror, and the current fog of mistrust. Bird, who as a child lived in the Beirut Embassy and knew Ames as a neighbor when he was twelve years old, spent years researching The Good Spy. Not only does the book draw on hours of interviews with Ames’ widow, and quotes from hundreds of Ames’ private letters, it’s woven from interviews with scores of current and former American, Israeli, and Palestinian intelligence officers as well as other players in the Middle East “Great Game.” What emerges is a masterpiece-level narrative of the making of a CIA officer, a uniquely insightful history of twentieth-century conflict in the Middle East, and an absorbing hour-by-hour account of the Beirut Embassy bombing. Even more impressive, Bird draws on his reporter’s skills to deliver a full dossier on the bombers and expose the shocking truth of where the attack’s mastermind resides today.
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Author
Kai Bird
Pages
448
Publisher
Crown
Published Date
2014-05-20
ISBN
0307889777 9780307889775
Community ReviewsSee all
"I could barely finish it, it was so boring, which is a shame because the subject matter is so interesting and important. The author uses a plodding yet also unorganized style that alternatively goes into way too much detail and then not enough. I found myself having to re-read entire paragraphs multiple times and still not understanding what was happening. The author annoyingly uses different names for the same characters (i.e. within the same paragraph refers to the same character by first, last, middle, nickname, etc). Then he glosses over major historical events like we will already know all about them while going into minute detail on stupid things like how a character dresses or how an office is decorated. <br/><br/>Ugh, overall it was also a super depressing book, even if it probably is realistic. Basically confirms that the whole world is just ran by a secret cabal of super rich sexist violent men that all go to Swiss boarding schools, run international corporations, and walk into high government and military jobs while living a playboy elitist lifestyle so disconnected from the rest of us. Very little that we do as citizens has any impact on the real things that happen internationally. Everything is apparently decided Mad-Men style in secret meetings in clubs and fancy hotels. Innocent people regularly get murdered in these shenanigans and nobody in the cabal seems fussed by this. Everything they do is hidden behind fake religious and patriotic ties in attempts to increase their own wealth and power. Does not give a very bright outlook on the future, particularly in the "War on Terror.""
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Rebekah Travis