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Description of  The Spymasters: How the CIA's Directors Shape History and Guard the Future [Audiobook]

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Gatekeepers, a remarkable, behind-the-scenes look at what its like to run the worlds most powerful intelligence agency, and how the CIA is often a crucial counterforce against presidents threatening to overstep the powers of their office. Only 11 men and one woman are alive today who have made the life-and-death decisions that come with running the worlds most powerful and influential intelligence service. With unprecedented, deep access to nearly all these individuals plus several of their predecessors, Chris Whipple tells the story of an agency that answers to the United States president alone, but whose activities - spying, espionage, and covert action - take place on every continent. At pivotal moments, the CIA acts as a brake on rogue presidents, starting in the mid-70s with DCI Richard Helmss refusal to conceal Richard Nixons criminality and continuing to the present as the actions of a CIA whistleblower ignited impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. Since its inception in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency has been a powerful player on the world stage, operating largely in the shadows to protect American ts. For The Spymasters, Whipple conducted extensive, exclusive interviews with nearly every living CIA director, pulling back the curtain on the worlds elite spy agencies and showing how the CIA partners - or clashes - with counterparts in Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. Topics covered in the book include attempts by presidents to use the agency for their own ends simmering problems in the Middle East and Asia rogue nuclear threats and cyberwarfare. A revelatory, behind-the-scenes look, The Spymasters recounts seven decades of CIA activity and elicits predictions about the issues - and threats - that will engage the attention of future operatives and analysts. Including eye-opening interviews with George Tenet, John Brennan, Leon Panetta, and David Petraeus, as well as those whove just recently departed the agency, this is a timely, essential, and important contribution to current events.