A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA

by Duane R. Clarridge

Book Overview

A former Deputy Director of the CIA provides a behind-the-scenes look at the American intelligence community, the Reagan administration's secret war against the Sandinistas, the covert operations he... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684800683
• ISBN13: 9780684800684
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 430 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Informative, interesting, and self-serving

Clarridge was nothing if not controversial. His long and storied career at the CIA is a fascinating read. He includes some of the more "mundane" aspects of the job, but manages to relate them in an interesting manner. What's great about this book is that Clarridge served in a variety of regions and came face-to-face with terrorism, so he offers some great perspective that is still relevant today. Later in his career, Clarridge was tied up in the Iran-Contra scandal and was eventually forced into retirement. Despite the informative and interesting nature of his memoir, it is entirely self-serving. Now, of course, most memoirs are. But Clarridge comes off as defensive, hurt and looking to bully his critics. A number of passages read less like a memoir than a tirade from a bar stool. Nevertheless, for anyone interested in espionage and intelligence, this book is a great read.

A true American patriot

This was a very good book about a good man who got jilted by a system that was skewed to the left. This is a great book to read in these times due to the fact that the times could somewhat be compared. He should be a model for all Americans that to fight a menace such as terrorism or Communism you have to take the fight to them.

Superior Read on CIA Operations

Clarridge details the CIA without bogging the reader with technical terms. The personal stories are enticing and his ability to give detailed accounts is impeccable. Great Read.

Very informative

This book is a great source of information for anybody even remotely interested in the intelligence community. Clarridge does a first-rate job at describing (as much as legally possible) the tradecraft and modus operandi of the Cold War-era CIA Case Officer. Overall, very entertaining and nicely written.