Corson, William R. The Armies of Ignorance: The Rise of the American Intelligence Empire. New York: Dial Press/James Wade Books, 1977. 640 pages.

The first half of this book is a history of U.S. intelligence from World War I up to the formation of the CIA in 1947, and the last 100 pages deal with the Revolutionary War up to World War I. This left about 200 pages in the middle that covered 30 years of CIA history. This is the material that was appropriate for NameBase.

Corson, an able academic historian and former intelligence professional who lives in Potomac, Maryland, brought his considerable experience and many inside contacts to bear on this discussion of intelligence issues. For our purposes, we found the lists of various committee members particularly useful. These committees were formed as presidents from Truman to Carter dealt with aspects of intelligence policy. The committee membership provides a clue to that vague but important distinction between players and non- players -- in other words, the ruling class insiders and outsiders of U.S. history since World War II. Although some of Corson's bureaucracy-tracking might seem dull, this type of study is necessary. By following the paper trail of U.S. intelligence through numerous archives and presidential libraries, a seldom-appreciated aspect of policy-making is revealed, along with its power and consequent responsibility.
ISBN 0-8037-0282-5

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