The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread recommended by Quanjun.

Quanjiun stated - Is it possible to have a topic that allows us to share resources that may be interesting to other members? For example podcasts, websites, online courses, etc. Since many members are very knowledgeable about history and some are just starting out (like myself), it would be nice to get some valuable feedback/suggestions on these types of resources that I'm sure plenty of us use in addition to books.

Here is that thread Quanjun. There is no self promotion.

SPYCAST (recommended by Quanjun)

SPYCAST INTERVIEWS

http://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-e...

http://www.spymuseum.org/search/?q=IN...

WORLD WAR - INTERVIEWS

http://www.spymuseum.org/multimedia/s...

MULTIMEDIA

http://www.spymuseum.org/multimedia/

ITUNE PODCASTS

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

NSAarchive (recommended by Quanjun)

http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nsa/archive/...

Other:
https://www.aclu.org/nsa-documents-se...
http://www.nsarchive.org
https://cjfe.org/snowden
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhi...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-hi...
https://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2014/...

No problem Quanjun - I think I have listed others that may be of interest to you from the same source locations or other business publications discussing the NSA like Forbes and Business Insider.

Glad to help.

Here's the website for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence:

https://www.dni.gov/index.php/intelli...

Mission

Lead Intelligence Integration.

Forge an Intelligence Community that delivers the most insightful intelligence possible.

Vision

A Nation made more secure because of a fully integrated Intelligence Community.

Goals

Integrate intelligence analysis and collection to inform decisions made from the White House to the foxhole.

Drive responsible and secure information-sharing.

Set strategic direction and priorities for national intelligence resources and capabilities.

Develop and implement Unifying Intelligence Strategies across regional and functional portfolios.

Strengthen partnerships to enrich intelligence.

Advance cutting-edge capabilities to provide global intelligence advantage.

Promote a diverse, highly-skilled intelligence workforce that reflects the strength of America.

Align management practices to best serve the Intelligence Community.

Cloak and Dollar: A History of American Secret Intelligence

by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (no photo)

Synopsis:

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a leading expert on the history of American espionage, here offers a lively and sweeping history of American secret intelligence from the founding of the nation through the present day. Jeffreys-Jones chronicles the extraordinary expansion of American secret intelligence from the 1790s, when George Washington set aside a discretionary fund for covert operations, to the beginning of the twenty-first century, when United States intelligence expenditure exceeds Russia’s total defense budget.

How did the American intelligence system evolve into such an enormous and costly bureaucracy? Jeffreys-Jones argues that hyperbolic claims and the impulse toward self-promotion have beset American intelligence organizations almost from the outset. Allan Pinkerton, whose nineteenth-century detective agency was the forerunner of modern intelligence bureaus, invented assassination plots and fomented anti-radical fears in order to demonstrate his own usefulness. Subsequent spymasters likewise invented or exaggerated a succession of menaces ranging from white slavery to Soviet espionage to digital encryption in order to build their intelligence agencies and, later, to defend their ever-expanding budgets. While American intelligence agencies have achieved some notable successes, Jeffreys-Jones argues, the intelligence community as a whole has suffered from a dangerous distortion of mission. By exaggerating threats such as Communist infiltration and Chinese espionage at the expense of other, more intractable problems—such as the narcotics trade and the danger of terrorist attack—intelligence agencies have misdirected resources and undermined their own objectivity.

Since the end of the Cold War, the aims of American secret intelligence have been unclear. Recent events have raised serious questions about effectiveness of foreign intelligence, and yet the CIA and other intelligence agencies are poised for even greater expansion under the current administration. Offering a lucid assessment of the origins and evolution of American secret intelligence, Jeffreys-Jones asks us to think also about the future direction of our intelligence agencies.

An upcoming book:
Release date: May 6, 2025

Vigilance Is Not Enough: A History of United States Intelligence

by Mark M. Lowenthal (no photo)

Synopsis:

Every nation has some sort of intelligence apparatus—a means by which its top officials get needed information on sensitive issues. But each nation does it differently, influenced by its history, its geographical conditions, and its political traditions. In this book, Mark M. Lowenthal examines the development of U.S. intelligence to explain how and why the United States went from having no intelligence service to speak of to being the world’s predominant intelligence power almost overnight.

He describes how the lack of a tradition of spycraft both hindered and helped American efforts to develop intelligence services during and after the Second World War. He points to the political pragmatism—leading to difficult choices—with which most intelligence directors operated; the constant tension between security and civil liberties in a constitutional democracy; the tension between the need for secrecy and the accountability required for democratic governance; and the way the growing importance of technology changed both the methods and the objectives of intelligence gathering. Far more than simply an episodic history, this book offers an analysis of why American intelligence developed as it did—and what it has meant for the nation’s and the world’s politics.

Jerome, I’d never even thought or considered that someone could write or imagine such a book!. WOW, What an eye-opener! Thank you!
Regards,
Andrea

Another:
Release date: June 1, 2025

The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence

by Jeffrey P. Rogg (no photo)

Synopsis:

Intelligence is all around us. We read about it in the news, wonder who is spying on us through our phones or computers, and want to know what is happening in the shadows. The US Intelligence Community or IC, as insiders call it, is more powerful than ever, but also more vulnerable than it has been in decades. It is facing the threat of rival intelligence services from countries like Russia and China while fighting to keep up with new technology and the private sector. Still, the IC's greatest struggle is always with the American people, who expect it to keep the country safe but not at the cost of their liberty.

Arriving on the fiftieth anniversary of the "Year of Intelligence," The Spy and the State tells the complete history of American intelligence from the Revolutionary War to the present day. Based on original research and a new interpretation of US history, this masterful book by Jeffrey Rogg explores the origins and evolution of intelligence in America, including its overlooked role in some of the key events that shaped the nation. Along the way, Rogg identifies the historical underpinnings of intelligence controversies that have shaken the country to its constitutional foundations and have resurfaced in recent years. Moving beyond institutional histories of the FBI and CIA, he introduces the concept of US civil-intelligence relations to explain the interaction between intelligence and the society it serves.

While answering questions from the past, The Spy and the State poses new questions for the future that the United States must confront as intelligence gains ever greater importance in the twenty-first century.

Absolutely jaw-dropping review, Jerome!. Thank you!
Regards,
Andrea