The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Orgins of the CIA [Paperback]

This is a remarkable book by a remarkable writer. It caused howls of protest from the CIA and US media elite when first published, but there is no doubt that Hersh has the goods: the book is now on the CIA reading list!
Hersh himself clearly did vast independent primary research and interview work for the book. His anatomy of the Dulles brothers, Frank Wisner, Wild Bill Donovan, Bill Casey,and the creepy but omnipresent Carmel Offie is superb. Wall Street staffed the US intelligence elite, in 1941 as in 2001---and oil and high finance were and still are that world's elixir. Lastly, the index and notes are a boon to future researchers. [Interestingly, none of the Dulles-adoring biographies published of late cites any of Hersh's work. Hmmmm.]
Hersh has a novelist's skill in bringing this cast of real characters to life: the descriptions are unforgettable, but the research, especially to me, a fellow digger in contemporary intelligence history, is awe-inspiring. Hersh has not written a book predicated on others' books: there is a treasure trove here of original research, especially in relation to the Wall Street connections to Nazi business and, critically, to the SAFEHAVEN investigation, rediscovery of which of course broke the Holocaust gold story some years back.
But most of all, this book is hugely entertaining and not a little amusing, told in a confidingly baroque language, it's true, but imagine you're hearing these stories in a clubland chair, from someone Who Knows Stuff, of a long and fascinating evening. Listen carefully: your attention'll be rewarded.
This is nuanced, detailed writing about complicated history: one's reading effort, I found, rewards---this is an important book laying open the defining people and defining events of the US intelligence empire. It's no surprise Hersh is in high demand as an intelligence expert since Sept 11th, as the CIA and its watchers look for answers.

I first consulted THE OLD BOYS some years ago, in connection with some tricky wartime research for the investigative unit of the CBC. Since then, I've re-read it---twice. THE OLD BOYS is a book that rewards rereading, in no small way because it's authoritative, painstakingly researched, and---no mean thing in history as potentially arcane as this---richly amusing. Not only can Hersh engrave Aubreyesque portraits of players major and minor with a novelist's eye but his depth of psychological insight into such complex characters as the Dulles brothers, not to mention the men who carry the OSS into the CIA of more modern times, like Helms and Casey, is, bluntly, masterful. Those who knock this book clearly haven't heard what a freshly retired Director of Operations at the CIA has said on the record about THE OLD BOYS: it's a masterpiece he gives copies of to the uninitiated every Christmas. Buy it. Pass it on. And, while you're at it, get a copy of BOBBY AND EDGAR, Hersh's new book on the long war between Bobby Kennedy and J Edgar Hoover, with Joe Kennedy Sr lurking behind the arras...

The author provides amazing detail about the origins of U.S. intelligence - ultimately leading to what is now known as the CIA. After reading this expose it is easy to see why the CIA has bungled some things, along with their successes. It seems clear that up to, and including WW 2, Americans were essentially amateurs at foreign intelligence. I guesss that traditional American isolationism was partly at least the root cause of this - the U.S. simply did not want to get involved in foreign intrigue. As far as the book is concerned, my only slight negative is the prose is very hard to read - a somewhat disjointed and funky writing style that does not flow easily. I seemed to need to read this book with a dictionary by my side. I must say the details are extensive for anyone who wants/needs to go deep into the history of the CIA.