When Presidents and the Press Clash
BOOK REVIEW: Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis By Jon Marshall, Potomac Books Reviewed by Bill Harlow The Reviewer — Bill Harlow […] More
Archive for ‘Books’
The Future of Artificial Intelligence
BOOK REVIEW: The New Fire: War, Peace, and Democracy in the Age of AI By Ben Buchanan and Andrew Imbrie / MIT Press Reviewed by […] More
Former CIA Officer Alex Finley and her Oligarch Yachts
AUTHOR INTERVIEW — When The Cipher Brief last crossed paths with author Alex Finley, we delved into the exploits of Victor Caro, the central character […] More
How China is Reweaving Hollywood’s Red Carpet
BOOK REVIEW: Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy By Erich Schwartzel / Penguin Press Reviewed by Bill Harlow The Reviewer […] More
What Does Intelligence Look Like in the Future?
BOOK REVIEW: Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence By: Amy Zegart / Princeton University Press Reviewed by Brian Fitzgerald Read […] More
The Fascination of the Abomination
BOOK REVIEW: Blown to Hell: America’s Deadly Betrayal of the Marshall Islanders By: Walter Pincus / Diversion Books Reviewed by James Lawler The Reviewer: James […] More
A CIA Story of Disruption and Overt Success
BOOK REVIEW: Disruption: Inside the Largest Counterterrorism Investigation in History By Aki J. Peritz / Potomac Books Reviewed by Bill Harlow The Reviewer — Bill Harlow is […] More
Exploring China’s High-Tech Penal Colony
BOOK REVIEW: In the Camps: China’s High-Tech Penal Colony By Darren Byler / Columbia Global Reports Reviewed by Terence Check The Reviewer — Terence Check is […] More
Imagining a CIA Operation in Damascus
BOOK REVIEW: Damascus Station: A Novel By David McCloskey / W.W. Norton & Company Reviewed by Robert Richer The Reviewer — Robert Richer served as […] More
A Closer Look at Vienna’s History of Espionage
BOOK REVIEW: Our Man in Vienna: The Spymaster’s War at the Heart of Europe By Panagiotis Dimitrakis / New Haven Publishing Reviewed by William D. […] More
A Review of Asian American Spies
“The book does highlight many of the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Americans who served their country and does offer some idea of their wartime roles […] More
A Fashionable Twist on Sisters of the Resistance
BOOK REVIEW: Sisters of Resistance: A Novel of Catherine Dior’s Paris Spy Network By Christine Wells / William Morrow Publishing Reviewed by Alison P. Bouwmeester The […] More
A Deeper Understanding of Cyberspace in Peace and War
Former Senior CIA Officer Daniel Hoffman takes a look at the book, Cyberspace in Peace and War in a review you’ll only find in The […] More
9 Good Questions for First Casualty Author Toby Harnden
Cipher Brief UnderCover senior editor, Bill Harlow talks with journalist and author Toby Harnden about his new book, First Casualty: The Untold Story of the […] More
A Not-So-Great Recruiter
Former Senior CIA Officer Robert Dannenberg puts the new book, The Recruiter to the test in a candid review you’ll only find in The Cipher […] More
Reviewing The Anatomy of a Spy
BOOK REVIEW: The Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal By Michael Smith / Arcade Publishing Reviewed by Jean-Thomas Nicole (The Cipher Brief […] More
What Afghanistan Cost the CIA
BOOK REVIEW: First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11 By Toby Harnden Little Brown & Co. Reviewed by Philip Mudd […] More
Does the World Really End This Way?
BOOK REVIEW: This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race By Nicole Perlroth / Bloomsbury Publishing Reviewed by Christopher Gallup […] More
My Bad Experience with The Cover Wife
BOOK REVIEW: The Cover Wife By Dan Fesperman / Knopf Reviewed by William D. Murray, retired senior CIA Operations Officer (The Cipher Brief taps independent […] More
The Cellist and her Plot Against Putin
BOOK REVIEW: The Cellist By Daniel Silva / Harper Reviewed by Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret) The Reviewer – Cipher Brief Expert Admiral James Stavridis, […] More
A Read for Spy Nerds
BOOK REVIEW: SPY SWAP: The Humiliation of Russia’s Intelligence Services By Nigel West / Frontline Books Reviewed by Joseph Augustyn, Former Sr. CIA Officer (The […] More
Reviewing National Security Law for the Coming AI Revolution
BOOK REVIEW: The Centaur’s Dilemma: National Security Law for the Coming AI Revolution By James E. Baker / Brookings Institution Press Reviewed by W. Renn […] More
Congress is Overwhelmed. Now What?
BOOK REVIEW: Congress Overwhelmed – The Decline in Congressional Capacity and Prospects for Reform By Editors Timothy M. LaPira, Lee Drutman and Kevin Kosar / […] More
Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA
BOOK REVIEW: Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA By Marc Polymeropoulos / HarperCollins Reviewed by Ken Dilanian The Reviewer: Ken Dilanian is the […] More