My Wish Lists Login / Join

The Ghost

the secret life of CIA spymaster James Jesus Angleton

By: Jefferson Morley

Write A Review

eBook | 1 November 2017

At a Glance

ePUB
336 Pages

eBook

RRP $29.99

$25.99

13%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $6.50 with

Instant Digital Delivery to your Kobo Reader App

A revelatory new biography of the sinister, powerful, and paranoid man at the heart of the CIA for more than three tumultuous decades.

Legendary head of the CIA James Jesus Angleton was one of the most powerful unelected government officials in American history. Virtually untouchable, he operated beyond the view of the public, Congress, and even the president himself.

In this gripping biography - the first in over 20 years - investigative reporter Jefferson Morley reveals the man behind the myths: from Angleton's friendship with the poets Ezra Pound and TS Eliot, to his links with the underground gay milieu of mid-century Washington; from the intelligence secrets he unwittingly shared with British double agent Kim Philby, to his obstruction of the investigation into the JFK assassination; and from his initiation of the US's first foray into mass surveillance of its citizens, to his obsession with hunting for communist moles - a search that nearly destroyed the Agency.

Yet during Angleton's seemingly lawless reign, he also proved himself to be a formidable adversary to America's enemies, acquiring a mythic stature within the CIA that continues to this day. Here, Morley uses exclusive interviews with colleagues and friends, and never-before-seen correspondence, to piece together a detailed and fascinating portrait of one of the most influential spies of our times.

Industry Reviews

'James Angleton's real life is the most intriguing, moving, and at times shocking spy story in American history. In The Ghost, Jeff Morley has captured the man in all his brilliant and sometimes delusional eccentricity. Angleton is woven through many of the strangest episodes of the 1950s and 60s - including the Kennedy assassination - in what was invisible thread, until Morley's book. A 'must read' for anyone who wants to understand just how strange and secretive the CIA was at the height of the Cold War.'