Quirk, John Patrick. The Central Intelligence Agency: A Photographic History. Foreign Intelligence Press (The Puritan Lodge, 42 Boston Post Road, Guilford CT 06437), 1986. 256 pages.

A disclaimer on the copyright page states that Foreign Intelligence Press is not affiliated with the CIA or any other intelligence agency. But author John Quirk's list of "Chief Advisors" (Ray Cline, Walter Pforzheimer, David Atlee Phillips) and "Consultants" (Samuel Halpern, Hans Moses, William J. Mulligan, Thomas Polgar, Herbert F. Saunders, Thomas F. Troy) would be the envy of anyone in the CIA's public affairs office. Essentially this book is a 256-page recruiting poster. We especially like the pictures of some famous spooks, the interviews, and some lists and thumbnail biographies (for example, members of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on page 250).

Most of the book is interesting, and reasonably accurate on noncontro- versial topics such as CIA administrative structures. However, author John Quirk, who in 1986 was grinding his axe with a new project tentatively titled "Soviet Active Measures in Book Publishing," cuts into his own credibility with a 22-page chapter on CIA operations. If it's disinformation that interests you, check out this rewrite of Chilean history on page 150: "Despite the conclusion of the Church Committee that the CIA was not responsible for that 1973 coup, most people in the world are convinced that CIA did overthrow Allende -- and many Americans believe it as well."
ISBN 0-89568-500-0

Extract the names from this source

Back to search page