In Secrecy's Shadow

-Written in an incisive and accessible style, In Secrecy's Shadow is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Cold War cinema. As Willmetts observes, while the CIA's engagement in the cultural Cold War through music, literature, and the visual arts has been well documented, its relationship with Hollywood has received far less attention. In Secrecy's Shadow is also notable for its adept synthesis of scholarship and archival research from academic fields that include intelligence and diplomacy as well as cultural and film studies. This broadly interdisciplinary approach results in a nuanced understanding of the 'complex interrelationship between fact and fiction' (16) that has shaped the CIA's place and meaning in American society.- -- REBECCA PRIME, FILM QUARTERLY -In Secrecy's Shadow provides readers with a comprehensive, nuanced and insightful picture of the CIA both in and on film from the 1940s to the 1970s. Libraries should certainly acquire the text, as its prose is highly readable, its information rich and its subject matter important to understandings of intelligence, propaganda and cinematic history.- -- Tricia Jenkins, LSE Review of Books-Willmetts advances an overarching interpretation of the interaction between intelligence, secrecy and culture, and in doing so challenges some senior figures in the historiography of his field. Well researched... rigorously organized... In Secrecy's Shadow is a courageous and substantial contribution to intelligence studies.- -- Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, Intelligence and National Security