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Title details for The Determined Spy by Douglas Waller - Wait list

The Determined Spy

The Turbulent Life and Times of CIA Pioneer Frank Wisner

by Douglas Waller
ebook
Pre-release: Expected April 8, 2025
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From Douglas Waller, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Bill Donovan, an intimate and expertly researched biography of little-known early CIA leader Frank Wisner, whose behind-the-scenes influence on Cold War policy—and hundreds of highly secret anti-Soviet missions—resonates with the international crises we see today.

Frank Wisner was one of the most powerful men in 1950s Washington, though few knew it.  Reporting directly to senior U.S. officials—his work largely hidden from Congress and the public— Wisner masterminded some of the CIA’s most daring and controversial operations in the early years of the Cold War, commanding thousands of clandestine agents around the world.
 
Following an early career marked by exciting escapades as a key World War II spy under General William “Wild Bill” Donovan, Wisner quickly rose through the postwar intelligence ranks to lead a newly created top-secret unit tasked—under little oversight—with overseeing massive propaganda, economic warfare, sabotage, subversion, and guerrilla operations all over the world, including such daring initiatives as the CIA-backed coups in Iran and Guatemala.
 
But simultaneously, Wisner faced a demon few at the time understood: bipolar disorder. When this debilitating disease resulted in his breakdown and transfer to a mental hospital, the repercussions were felt throughout Washington’s highest levels of power.
 
Waller’s sensitive and exhaustively researched biography is the riveting story of both Frank Wisner as a national figure who inspired a cadre of future CIA secret warriors, and also an intimate and empathetic portrait of a man whose harrowing struggle with bipolar disorder makes his impressive accomplishments on the world stage even more remarkable.

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    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      November 1, 2024

      Bestselling Waller (Lincoln's Spies) offers an intimate biography of early CIA leader Frank Wisner. Behind the scenes, Wisner planned some of the most daring and controversial operations in the early years of the Cold War. Waller also explores Wisner's bipolar disorder and its effect on his work and life. Prepub Alert.

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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