Current Intelligence
How the CIA's Top-Secret Presidential Briefing Shaped History
Published on 10. November 2022
288 pages
978-1-80399-231-0 (ISBN)
Description
A GRIPPING NEW HISTORY OF US PRESIDENTS AND CIA SECRETS
Every day, the President of the United States receives a bespoke, top-secret briefing document from the Central Intelligence Agency.Truman started them, Kennedy came to rely on them and Trump hardly read them.
Current Intelligence charts almost a century of history and politics, revealing for the first time the day-to-day intelligence that lands on the Oval Office desk in the form of the President's Daily Brief. Using recently declassified documents, it uncovers what successive American presidents knew and when, and what they did in response. The nuclear arms race, the Vietnam War and 9/11 might never have happened if presidents had read their Daily Briefs differently.
By focusing on key moments, from the Cuban Missile Crisis and covert operations around the world, right up to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Current Intelligence reveals how intelligence has profoundly shaped our past and present.
Every day, the President of the United States receives a bespoke, top-secret briefing document from the Central Intelligence Agency.Truman started them, Kennedy came to rely on them and Trump hardly read them.
Current Intelligence charts almost a century of history and politics, revealing for the first time the day-to-day intelligence that lands on the Oval Office desk in the form of the President's Daily Brief. Using recently declassified documents, it uncovers what successive American presidents knew and when, and what they did in response. The nuclear arms race, the Vietnam War and 9/11 might never have happened if presidents had read their Daily Briefs differently.
By focusing on key moments, from the Cuban Missile Crisis and covert operations around the world, right up to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Current Intelligence reveals how intelligence has profoundly shaped our past and present.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Stroud
United Kingdom
Illustrations
16 Illustrations, black and white
File size
5,48 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-80399-231-0 (9781803992310)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
11/2022
The History Press Ltd
€25.00
Shipment within 10-15 days
Person
DAVID CHARLWOOD obtained a first-class honours degree in history from Royal Holloway, University of London, and has worked as an international journalist and in publishing. He is the author of four history books, including the acclaimed 1920: A Year of Global Turmoil (Pen & Sword).
Content
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- Part I: The Curtain Falls: The Start of the Cold War
- 1 Long Telegrams
- 2 Helping Friends
- 3 Winged Angels
- 4 Genbaku
- 5 A Re-Examination
- 6 Information of Vital Importance
- Part II: The Threat from Above: The Missile Gap
- 7 Briefing the Commander-in-Chief
- 8 Reconnaissance
- 9 'There was Created a Myth'
- Part III: A Path Full of Hazards: The Cuban Missile Crisis
- 10 'The CIA is the Place I Have to Go'
- 11 Soviet Merchant Ships
- 12 Offensive Weapons
- 13 Men of Letters
- 14 A Missile Misadventure
- Part IV: Friends Like These: Covert Operations
- 15 A More Reliable Government
- 16 Counter-Coup
- 17 Banana Republic
- 18 One Man
- 19 Allies Overseas
- Part V: Unfolding Tragedy: The War in Vietnam
- 20 A Situation
- 21 The Jungles of Indochina
- 22 Boots on the Ground
- 23 Wider War
- 24 America's Soul
- 25 A Healthy Interval
- 26 What Happens If?
- Part VI: Known Unknowns: 9/11 and Afghanistan
- 27 Under Attack
- 28 Failures
- 29 Freedom Fighters
- 30 'A Jungle Full of Poisonous Snakes'
- 31 'Let Me Read'
- 32 'Something Will Be Missed'
- 33 'The Best Decision for America'
- Epilogue
- Chapter Notes
