Excellent! It's amazing how history works. Waller covers the history of the CIA through the stories of four of the men who ran it; Allen Dulles, Bill Casey, Bill Colby and Richard Helms. All were proteges of the founder, Wild Bill Donovan. All had their good points, and their faults. Waller explains the early stages of the men's careers, through their leadership, and after they left the agency. The author presents a thorough, very fair, seemingly unbiased, examination of each man. If you read this, you cannot help but come away with a better understanding of why history has played itself out the way that it has. I highly recommend this book.
I received this book from NetGalley, in exchange for a fair review. ( )

This is a difficult book to rate. I have much respect for the time and research that the author put into writing this book, but the execution was problematic for me.

The content is extensive, perhaps too much so for one book. We start with the CIA directors. The first four chapters are early biographies of each of these men, covering their childhoods through to them joining the CIA. We also go back through their family trees, meeting their parents, siblings, and anyone else who might have influenced them early on. From there, we go on to the start of their careers in intelligence and espionage. At this point, we meet countless more players and travel the world with all of them. We follow the timeline of the war, from start to finish, alongside all four men and all of the people with whom they interact.

For the most part, I was overwhelmed rather than intrigued by the sheer volume of content. I felt like a needed a chart to keep track of all the people and their relationships. And, while it's impressive that the author was able to unearth so much detail, from where people sat at meetings to what they wore and ate, the way it was all laid out felt like an information dump. There was no time to explore a specific aspect or feeling before the next activity and new people joined the throng.

The writing style is straightforward and conversational, but feels too much like a recitation of facts. It mostly reads like a dry textbook, rather than narrative nonfiction. I didn't get a real sense of emotion. I was told, at times, how each of these men felt about a certain thing, but I didn't see it or feel it from their perspectives.

This book will have a strong appeal for readers who enjoy meticulously detailed history. Perhaps they are more patient readers than I am.

*I was provided with an e-book copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.* ( )