Inside the Company: CIA Diary

Rating:
Summary: Best Cold Look at Day to Day Clandestine Operations
Review: I despise what Philip Agee did with this book, endangering the lives of real people and violating his oath as a commissioned officer in the clandestine service. I was also very surprised by the level of detail in the book, and concluded that he intended to betray the CIA well prior to leaving. I've served three overseas tours and three Washington assignments, and from all that time I can barely remember one cryptonym series and not a single true identity. I think Agee took notes and planned ahead to burn the CIA. This is a good diary, and I include it in this bibliography to represent the pedestrian side of the DO-the day to day monotony of going through the motions and doing agent recruitments and agent handling operations in third world countries where the bulk of what one does really does not contribute to U.S. national security or understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Best Cold Look at Day to Day Clandestine Operations
Review: I despise what Philip Agee did with this book, endangering the lives of real people and violating his oath as a commissioned officer in the clandestine service. I was also very surprised by the level of detail in the book, and concluded that he intended to betray the CIA well prior to leaving. I've served three overseas tours and three Washington assignments, and from all that time I can barely remember one cryptonym series and not a single true identity. I think Agee took notes and planned ahead to burn the CIA. This is a good diary, and I include it in this bibliography to represent the pedestrian side of the DO-the day to day monotony of going through the motions and doing agent recruitments and agent handling operations in third world countries where the bulk of what one does really does not contribute to U.S. national security or understanding.

Rating:
Summary: A must read. Shows the truth behind the CIA
Review: Philip Agee does a wonderful job of unmasking the villains and personel of the CIA. It is written in a diary format, with each occasion listed to the exact date. Philip Agee was a former CIA agent positioned in Ecuador. His story depicts how the Company goes about their business and describes what their business is.

Rating:
Summary: Detailed but odious work
Review: This isn't a thriller and it can be very dry and tiresome at times. However, from the academic standpoint , this is an interesting work on the CIA.
Good or bad, this book was a product of its times, and I understand that. It wasn't fashionable in the 1970s to spy, and there were some controls needed on CIA.
However, I think Agee goes to far in releasing secrets.
Agee takes the reader through recruitment, training and CIA life. If he had stopped there and left out designations, cover and agent names it would be a sort of dry but informative work.
He didn't.
Aldrich Ames sold names and operations for money to the Soviet Union. Phil Agee sold them to a book publisher. I see little difference.