The devil's chessboard Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the rise of America's secret government Talbot, David 1951- creator author. text bibliography biography Biography. History. nyu 2015 First edition. monographic eng print xiii, 686 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm "An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful and secretive colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times bestseller Brothers. America's greatest untold story: the United States' rise to world dominance under the guile of Allen Welsh Dulles, the longest-serving director of the CIA. Drawing on revelatory new materials, including newly discovered U.S. government documents, U.S. and European intelligence sources, the personal correspondence and journals of Allen Dulles's wife and mistress, and exclusive interviews with the children of prominent CIA officials, Talbot reveals the underside of one of America's most powerful and influential figures. Dulles's decade as the director of the CIA which he used to further his public and private agendas were dark times in American politics. Calling himself "the secretary of state of unfriendly countries," Dulles saw himself as above the elected law, manipulating and subverting American presidents in the pursuit of his personal interests and those of the wealthy elite he counted as his friends and clients colluding with Nazi-controlled cartels, German war criminals, and Mafiosi in the process. Targeting foreign leaders for assassination and overthrowing nationalist governments not in line with his political aims, Dulles employed those same tactics to further his goals at home, Talbot charges, offering shocking new evidence in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. An expose of American power that is as disturbing as it is timely, The Devil's Chessboard is a provocative and gripping story of the rise of the national security state and the battle for America's soul."--provided by publisher. The double agent -- Human smoke -- Ghosts of Nuremberg -- Sunrise -- Ratlines -- Useful people -- Little mice -- Scoundrel time -- The power elite -- The Dulles imperium -- Strange love -- Brain warfare -- Dangerous ideas -- The torch is passed -- Contempt -- Rome on the Potomac -- The parting glass -- The big event -- The fingerprints -- For the good of the country -- "I can't look and won't look" -- End game -- Epilogue. David Talbot. Includes bibliographical references (pages [621]-661) and index. Dulles, Allen 1893-1969 United States. Central Intelligence Agency Officials and employees Biography United States. Central Intelligence Agency History 20th century Spies United States Biography Intelligence service United States History 20th century Intelligence officers United States Biography Official secrets United States Espionage, American Soviet Union History Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald) 1917-1963 Dulles, Allen 1893-1969 Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald) 1917-1963 United States. Central Intelligence Agency. 1900-1999 fast Employees Espionage, American Intelligence officers Intelligence service Official secrets Spies Soviet Union United States JK468.I6 T33 2015 327.12092 9780062276162 0062276166 BTCTA 150124 20170928105147.0 in00003601910 eng