Agencies

The Introduction gives a short history of spying in America. The Civil War spies were amateurs from other varied backgrounds, just like the soldiers. Chapter 1 tells the story about President-elect Lincoln's secret journey to Washington. Chapter 2 tells of William A. Lloyd, a businessman who traveled to the South with his wife and maid. His information was passed to his courier Thomas H. S. Boyd for delivery to Washington. Boyd often used released prisoners to carry back his information. Chapter 3 tells of Rose Greenhow's spying in Washington, where she was the intimate friend of the Senator from Massachusetts. Her reports were corroborated by the news in Northern newspapers. Page 66 tells of the prewar partnership between William P. Wood and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton! The activities of Belle Boyd sound like a work of fiction if they weren't known as fact (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 tells of Confederate spies. Pinkerton's men were told to look at a man's shoes. Northerners wore the new style of different shoes for left and right feet, southerners wore the old style with the same shoe for either foot. The Confederates' early successes were due in part to better intelligence (p.92). Thomas N. Conrad led a colorful life as a Confederate spy. His haircut and mustache configuration (p.95) suggests he acted as a false double, and was involved in the Booth plot.

Chapter 6 tells of other Union spies, such as the talented Timothy Webster, Pinkerton agent (pp.125-130). Were his real exploits greater than the fictional James Bond? But Webster's luck changed after he was laid up with rheumatism. Chapter 8 tells of Benjamin F. Stringfellow, another colorful Confederate spy who had an interesting career. Chapter 9 tells of the Secret Services. By early 1863 the Union's intelligence was now better than the Confederates'. Gettysburg was a Union victory, not a draw. Chapter 10 tells of Lafayette C. Baker and his work in counter-intelligence. Chapter 11 tells of counter-intelligence in Europe, and the Trent Affair. Page 208 explains diplomatic appointments then; would today's news media report this?

Chapter 12 tells of the "Northwest Conspiracy". The bankers and merchants of New York City were the economic partners of the Southern cotton planters; profit was more important than the principle of Union (p.211). There were uprisings against the Conscription Act, the worst was the Draft Riots in July 1863. Opponents of the war wore the head of Liberty from a penny; hence the name "Copperheads". Chapter 13 tells of the attempts to raise an insurrection from Copperheads and Confederate agents and prisoners; it failed (pp.235-7). The raid on St. Albans VT was a success. Pages 247-250 tells of the attempt to burn Manhattan. Chapter 14 tells of the attempt to raid Richmond and free the Union prisoners. Colonel Dahlgren was killed, and his orders to kill Jeff Davis and his Cabinet were published. The US Government denied this as a fabrication or forgery. This angered many Southerners, and may have inspired John Wilkes Booth's fatal attack. Lincoln believed he would not be assassinated because the assassin would in turn die. No government would order such a thing, and only a madman would do it (p.273). The rest of this chapter discusses the conspiracy, and the capture of JW Booth.

The last 9 pages of Sources list many books as reference.

As a lifelong student of the JFK assassination, I recently read this book, mainly because it has been mentioned in several books dealing with the assassination, in particular Noel Twyman's Bloody Treason. The potential reader should know, however, that this is not a JFK assassination book. It only peripherally touches upon the case in a couple of instances.
The book appears to be the true personal story of the author, in which he tells of his involvement with the Cuban so-called exiles in southern Florida, how he helped to train them, keep them supplied and even accompany them on raids against Cuba in the months leading up to the president's assassination.

The story starts with the author's account of his specialized military training (he was an active duty U.S. Army officer, Captain I think) and his orders for the undercover CIA assignment with the exiles. He tells of his trip to Washington D.C., where he meets with high level military officers, including General Victor Krulak. Later on, after arriving at the CIA's Miami station, he recalls his association with people such as as Ted Shackley and David Morales. In all of these cases, the author changed the names slightly, but readers who are familiar with these JFK assassination-related individuals will immmediately recognize them.
There are no big revelations here, except perhaps that the author inadvertantly establishes that David Morales did go by the alias 'El Indio', a pseudonym that has been strongly linked to the assassination. This is acutally the main reason I decided to read this book, after seeing references made to this issue in the aforementioned Twyman book. As well, he tells of his meeting Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

The main substance of the book deals with the author's account of his logistical support of the exiles, his supervision of their tranining and his participation in some of their raids against Cuba, much of which makes for some fairly exciting reading, even for a person like me who normally doesn't read that kind of stuff.

Toward the end, after the assassination and as the Johnson administration shifts the CIA's focus from Cuba to Vietnam, the author's life with the exiles changes drastically, as everything he had hoped and worked for apparently comes to naught. His disillusion is complete, as he can't fathom why a country half-way around the world could possibly be more important than one only 90 miles off the coast of Florida, among other things.

In any case, students of the assassination should give this book a read, maybe just for a change from the usual analytical assassination fare. Here is an account of a person who was actually there and knew some of the principals usually only known from documents.

For others, this is a fairly exiting book of political and military intrigue which took place not in a faraway land, but right here at home.

Although the book is somewhat long (as another reviewer commented) it is certainly worth reading, and delivers some great insights into the ad business for young writers and designers.

This is an wonderful book for any government unit, non-profit organization that is interested in working across boundaries. It captures the spirit and essence of working across boundaries with real life examples. Any leader in government should read this book. You can use the techniques and suggestions to improve performance and recapture the spirit of innovation. Mr. Linden provides good resources and ideas to help managers and leaders work across boundaries.

on facts of all the countries. Usefull information arranged in an easy to use form. Great for students and teachers alike. A must have for Social Science classes!

I bought this because it looked like it was the latest edition. It both is and is not. The CIA has their 2001 version online, so I thought this would be more recent, but when you get the hard copy, it says under the title "(CIA's 2001 edition)." In other words, you can get the same information online for free because both the hard copy and the online version use information current as of January 1, 2001. A bit misleading and it'll cost the amount to ship it back and return it.

This book covers the pathology and genetics of nervous system tumors in a very clear and organized manner. It is a good reference book both for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis of different NS neoplasms as well as having a concise description of grading, name synonyms, histopathology and clinical signs. Recommended

This book has the best, clearest summary of key issues in financial globalization, Third World debt and free-market reforms that I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot). I recommend it for academics who study globalization in their research, anti-globalization activists, and concerned world citizens in general--you'll find yourself using it as a reference!

HMS UNSEEN is a large improvment over Patrick Robinson's previous two novels, NIMITZ CLASS and KILO CLASS. Despite the supposed assistance of retired Royal Navy Admiral Sandy Woodward, those books were rife with technical, factual and historical errors that dramatically reduced the plausibility and enjoyability of the stories and the novels themselves. I rated them as fairly as I could, but it was obvious that Robinson had not done his homework.

In this installment, which reprises many of the previous characters, Robinson brings back the Iraqi terrorist and submarine commander, Benjamin Adnam. Commander Adnam, although an Iraqi agent for years, finds himself on the short list of people to meet Allah at the hands of Saddam Hussein. Successfully avoiding execution, he flees Iraq and offers his services to its arch-enemy, Iran. This scene, while fairly well written seems implausible, given the enmities each country feels for the other and the long-standing hatreds left over from the eight year Iran-Iraq War.

Adnam's plan is to steal a very quiet diesel-electric submarine from the Royal Navy and convert it to fire SAM missiles. Robinson's descriptions of the planning and execution of the theft is meticulous, but also highly unlikely because the entire class of four submarines have been sold to Canada and they are no longer in reserve with the Royal Navy. Despite this factual error, Robinson continues along with his story line and while it stays at sea, or at the National Command levels of both the UK and the USA, it moves along quickly. Robinson provides a closer look at Adnam's feelings and motivations that in some cases almost paints a sympathetic figure. However, he always returns to his starting point and reminds his readers that Adnam is a terrorist and a mass murderer.

There's a bit of the jingoist in Robinson's writings and it is obvious he is an admirer of the USA and the UK. That's not a bad thing, but he also portrays lesser nations as somewhat less than notable. Obviously, Iran and an Iraq are painted as rogue states (which they are) and deserving of nothing but contempt.

As in his past books, Robinson spends FAR TOO MUCH TIME telling his readers what and where his heroes eat their gourmet meals. This is tiresome and detracts from the forward progress of the story. It is also quite obvious that Robinson is probably an admirer of fine living and can't help himself; he has to tell his readers how much he knows about food and wine. On that score, all I can say is this:

"Patrick, if you want to do that, why don't you write restaurant reviews for the NY TIMES?"

This was a mildy entertaining read if you have nothing else at hand or because you want to see where the author takes his recurring characters. For better pure submarine action, I still prefer and recommend MICHAEL DIMERCURIO, author of THREAT VECTOR, BARRACUDA FINAL BEARING, PIRANHA FIRING POINT and so on. Mr. DiMercurio is a US Naval Academy graduate with an MIT engineering masters degree and a former submariner. He doesn't need Sandy Woodward's assistance to write his novels. He lived the role of submarine officer and now writes about. He writes well about the things and people he knew.

Patrick Robinson can only conjure up stories from his vast imagination and how he would like the world to be. There is a difference. If you haven't discovered Michael DiMercurio, I heartily recommend his novels and he has another due out this fall. His entire backlist is available here at Amazon and in most good bookstores. Once having read both authors, you'll be able to tell whose accounts are more plausible and ultimately, more enjoyable.

Paul Connors

Patrick Robinson novels are one of my guilty pleasures. While they are not great literature, they are page-turners. I can hardly put them down and by the end am literally bleary-eyed.

With every book, I ask myself whether the writing has improved. I think that it has, to some extent, although in this novel his favorite adjective seems to have become "big." He believes, apparently, that you are what you eat: all the heroes and heroines burnish their glamor with sumptuous feasts in "big" candlelit dining rooms, while Ben Adnam splurges on fish and chips.

There may be some truth in this. Nick Flower, the CIA's master spy in _The Spike_ (a novel from ca. 1980 no less loyal to the West than Robinson), proved, upon his long-delayed but climactic self-revelation, to be a quietly cultured individual who "had a palate" and distrusted anyone who didn't, such as his young hamburger-gulping nemesis. But aside from that, no glamor. On the contrary, Flower reminded people of an aged praying mantis or "a survivor of Buchenwald." One yearns for a few characters as quirky as that from Robinson.

That said, I'm delighted at the character development given Adnam in this book. It's a very interesting advance for the author. On the very morrow of his latest triumph of terror, Adnam finds himself-- as he had fully anticipated-- a man without a country, almost literally washed up and hiding out in Scotland. Everywhere he goes reminds him of happier times as a student years ago, and particularly of his brief bliss with the one woman who ever loved him. Knowing that his later deeds had cut him off from her ever loving him again, he spirals down into periods of remorse, loneliness, nostalgia, and depression. His every waking hour becomes torture, while he is afraid to go to sleep for the nightmares. Why did he do it all? He loses his cool and does several careless or even reckless things, seemingly indifferent to being caught. He visits Edinburgh Castle especially to spend awhile in the chapel gazing at an old stained-glass window commemmorating a fiery Scottish patriot whose enemies would today call him a terrorist, looking for an approving smile from the figure's face. In a brief casual conversation with an Irish boy "going into politics", by which he means the Irish Republican Army, Adnam discourages him from becoming a terrorist, impressing him with the fact that taking this step is irretrievable and will make him nothing but an expendable pawn, to be chewed up and spit out by his own cause. There is more to Ben Adnam than the steely killing machine that we had come to know and hate. Not many jihadists, in moments of doubt, breathe a prayer to a Christian saint.

I've read somewhere that the name "Nemo" means "no man" or "no name" and wonder whether the name "Adnam" might be an allusion to the same idea. Suffice it to say that in this book we get a glimpse into some of the darkness and complexity that Jules Verne gave his brilliant submarine terrorist 130 years ago. I agree with those who found the ending abrupt and disappointing, hoping that Adnam's redemption would be more than an interlude.

Apparently I'm the first to comment on this book since George W. Bush was ushered into the Oval Office and proceeded to prove Robinson ironically prophetic. Unfortunately, life seems to have imitated art, with flesh-and-blood Arnold Morgans blustering their way into Iraq under pretexts now looking suspiciously spurious and delusive-- their string-pullers lack the exculpating ingenuity or subtlety of a Benjamin Adnam. Robinson seems to admire Morgan, while some readers dismissed him in 2000 as made of cardboard (or shall we say a paper tiger) and totally unrealistic. Would that he were just a figment of fiction in our corridors of power.

The first half of the book is Robinson's best effort ever. This is true in light of everything that happened in the world after this book was published.

Not being a military person, a lot of the descriptions regarding equipment was lost on me. That was not really a problem since it did not detract from the plot or characters.

I believe the ending of the book came to fast and was not well thought out. I do not believe any President would give that type of order.

This book was far better than the Shark Mutiny.

I read this book for a school project, after reading the back cover it sound like it was going to be a good action book, which it was for the most part. After getting done reading the whole book it left me wanting more there was simply put no conclusion, and the dialog between characters was ridiculous, it was some of the worst writing I have ever read. I will give him props for the action scenes that is when the authors writing was truly superb. King says this book is based on true accounts of his own experiences, which I do not believe, mainly because the whole plot of the book was unbelieveable, especially the part about the far seers.

I personally have never meet Mr. King even though I live in the same town in Washington State where he grew up. My oldest boy is a friend of Mr. Kings sister. Reading the book I came to realize me and Bob King have a lot in common besides being the same age and from the same area. The lives we lived growing up were one and the same. I know a lot about the operations Mr. King was a part of not because I was there but because as I read the book the names and places were different but the theme and stories were the same. Very close friends I know and love were involved in the very same things "been there done that". Both of these friends one so far has been left alone the other they have tried to kill twice. Both times on special missions in which other americans were killed even though the ambush was to have killed all including the innocent, some how he servived both attempts even though being seriously wounded both times. It seems when you do dirty little jobs that and you are the only ones that knows about (what and who you did). You somehow become the dirty little evedence that needs to be cleaned or should I say "debriefed", As I read through some of the reviews I had to laugh especially the one that said he was part of these special units and how the were all in full time training and so on. This does not discribe my friends one that worked for me and would leave work at 4:30 on friday be back to work at 8:00 on monday morning and I would recieve a post card from Columbia a few days later signed by my friend saying "long time no see, how have you been ect." I'm sure Bob King also has a few close friends that he has confided in over the years that know a lot more than you'll find in his book. There are too many similarities than to just say its coincidence or they are all just making it up. Especially since they do not even know each other.

Mr. King has put into our hands an incredible work that is impossible to put down. Literally. I read it from cover to cover in a matter of hours. This is one of the best tales I've ever read, but what amazes me most is the point of contention of the "relatively few" poor reviews of this book. Almost every instance, the contention is that "I was there" or "I really do this". BS! Other's try to discredit his work by saying "when did the military start issuing HK's?" oh Please! Anyone wishing to trash this book over such non-sense or (more likely) because they refuse to believe that this type of thing has in the past & still does happen, has their head buried somewhere, but it's not in the sand! you'll recognize them, they are the ones who each "claim" to know more about it than the autor and everyone else. If you are not afraid to open your eyes, this is an EXCELLENT read, and if you don't believe this is the reality of the world we live in - WAKE UP!