A Question of Standing

In the CIA's 75th birthday year, veteran intelligence historian Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones presents a history of the Agency from its foundation in the early days of the Cold War, through the Bay of Pigs fiasco of 1961, its role in the war in the 1970s, the part it played in the collapse of Soviet Communism in the late 1980s and the existential crisis of the 1990s that followed, to the new role it has taken on in the war on terror since 2001. A thoughful and balanced counterpoint to both celebratory and hostile accounts, A Question of Standing argues that the Agency's original and continuing purpose was not just the delivery of intelligence, but its delivery in a manner that commanded attention. To achieve that goal, the CIA had to be in good standing. It is never helpful to convey the truth if nobody respects you enough to listen.