America’s Great Game
Hugh Wilford, America's Great Game: The CIA's Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East (Basic Books, 2013)
Summary: A highly readable account of Cold War-era cloak and dagger, with a sprinkling of the World Wars. At times biographical—a plus when the characters are fascinating in their own right—and does not attempt to draw grandiose linkages to our present period, which is refreshing for this genre.
Key Quote: "Yet there was more to the young American's relations with British officials in Iraq than bureaucratic necessity. Like his uncle Kermit during World War I, Archie Roosevelt appears to have felt a strong attraction to the Arabist officers and advisers who manned Britain's imperial regime—its 'Covert Empire'—in the Middle East." - p. 44
Bottom Line: Read this book if you want to see semi-aristocratic spies in action in exotic locales.
