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A review by joshuamt
The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government by David Talbot
3.0
The strength of this book is its readability. In 500 fast-paced pages, the sordid side of the CIA's history is laid out, with episodes on Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Iraq, Greece, France. I learned alot from these sections, and more importantly, I finished the book with a thirst to learn more. The author definitely views the CIA as a dangerous and misguided organization, and I tried to remember that when enjoying these chapters.
The final third of the book segues from Cuba into President Kennedy, and here the pace slows. The sub-title of the book would more accurately be "Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Assassination of the Kennedy Brothers". Talbot presents his theory about JFK and RFK's assassinations, namely, that Dulles was the mastermind behind the assassination. This section of the book, while intriguing, bogged me down in the details of the many characters and their motivations.
The book left me with insight into the CIA's foreign activities in the 20th century, the justifiability of which depends how dangerous and competent you believe "the bear" to have been during that time. I am also left with disturbing thoughts about the extent of the CIA's involvement in domestic activities, including assassination. What I did not get was a feel for Dulles the man; in portraying him as a sinister villain, a more interesting opportunity was missed to examine his humanity.
The final third of the book segues from Cuba into President Kennedy, and here the pace slows. The sub-title of the book would more accurately be "Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Assassination of the Kennedy Brothers". Talbot presents his theory about JFK and RFK's assassinations, namely, that Dulles was the mastermind behind the assassination. This section of the book, while intriguing, bogged me down in the details of the many characters and their motivations.
The book left me with insight into the CIA's foreign activities in the 20th century, the justifiability of which depends how dangerous and competent you believe "the bear" to have been during that time. I am also left with disturbing thoughts about the extent of the CIA's involvement in domestic activities, including assassination. What I did not get was a feel for Dulles the man; in portraying him as a sinister villain, a more interesting opportunity was missed to examine his humanity.