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Book Spies and Commandos

Download or read book Spies and Commandos written by Kenneth J. Conboy and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Vietnam War, the U.S. sought to undermine Hanoi's subversion of the Saigon regime by sending Vietnamese operatives behind enemy lines. All the commandos were killed or captured, with many reporting false information. This book traces the rise and demise of this secret operation.

Book Spies and Commandos

    Book Details:
  • Author : Kenneth Conboy
  • Publisher : University Press of Kansas
  • Release : 2000-03-16
  • ISBN : 0700611479
  • Pages : 358 pages

Download or read book Spies and Commandos written by Kenneth Conboy and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2000-03-16 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Vietnam war, the United States sought to undermine Hanoi's subversion of the Saigon regime by sending Vietnamese operatives behind enemy lines. A secret to most Americans, this covert operation was far from secret in Hanoi: all of the commandos were killed or captured, and many were turned by the Communists to report false information. Spies and Commandos traces the rise and demise of this secret operation-started by the CIA in 1960 and expanded by the Pentagon beginning in1964-in the first book to examine the program from both sides of the war. Kenneth Conboy and Dale Andrade interviewed CIA and military personnel and traveled in Vietnam to locate former commandos who had been captured by Hanoi, enabling them to tell the complete story of these covert activities from high-level decision making to the actual experiences of the agents. The book vividly describes scores of dangerous missions-including raids against North Vietnamese coastal installations and the air-dropping of dozens of agents into enemy territory-as well as psychological warfare designed to make Hanoi believe the "resistance movement" was larger than it actually was. It offers a more complete operational account of the program than has ever been made available-particularly its early years-and ties known events in the war to covert operations, such as details of the "34-A Operations" that led to the Tonkin Gulf incidents in 1964. It also explains in no uncertain terms why the whole plan was doomed to failure from the start. One of the remarkable features of the operation, claim the authors, is that its failures were so glaring. They argue that the CIA, and later the Pentagon, was unaware for years that Hanoi had compromised the commandos, even though some agents missed radio deadlines or filed suspicious reports. Operational errors were not attributable to conspiracy or counterintelligence, they contend, but simply to poor planning and lack of imagination. Although it flourished for ten years under cover of the wider war, covert activity in Vietnam is now recognized as a disaster. Conboy and Andrade's account of that episode is a sobering tale that lends a new perspective on the war as it reclaims the lost lives of these unsung spies and commandos.

Book Lincoln s Spies

    Book Details:
  • Author : Douglas Waller
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2019-08-06
  • ISBN : 1501126873
  • Pages : 624 pages

Download or read book Lincoln s Spies written by Douglas Waller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-08-06 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major addition to the history of the Civil War is a “fast-paced, fact-rich account” (The Wall Street Journal) offering a detailed look at President Abraham Lincoln’s use of clandestine services and the secret battles waged by Union spies and agents to save the nation—filled with espionage, sabotage, and intrigue. Veteran CIA correspondent Douglas Waller delivers a riveting account of the heroes and misfits who carried out a shadow war of espionage and covert operations behind the Confederate battlefields. Lincoln’s Spies follows four agents from the North—three men and one woman—who informed Lincoln’s generals on the enemy positions for crucial battles and busted up clandestine Rebel networks. Famed detective Allan Pinkerton mounted a successful covert operation to slip Lincoln through Baltimore before his inauguration after he learns of an assassination attempt from his agents working undercover as Confederate soldiers. But he proved less than competent as General George McClellan’s spymaster, delivering faulty intelligence reports that overestimated Confederate strength. George Sharpe, an erudite New York lawyer, succeeded Pinkerton as spymaster for the Union’s Army of the Potomac. Sharpe deployed secret agents throughout the South, planted misinformation with Robert E. Lee’s army, and outpaced anything the enemy could field. Elizabeth Van Lew, a Virginia heiress who hated slavery and disapproved of secession, was one of Sharpe’s most successful agents. She ran a Union spy ring in Richmond out of her mansion with dozens of agents feeding her military and political secrets that she funneled to General Ulysses S. Grant as his army closed in on the Confederate capital. Van Lew became one of the unsung heroes of history. Lafayette Baker was a handsome Union officer with a controversial past, whose agents clashed with Pinkerton’s operatives. He assembled a retinue of disreputable spies, thieves, and prostitutes to root out traitors in Washington, DC. But he failed at his most important mission: uncovering the threat to Lincoln from John Wilkes Booth and his gang. Behind these operatives was Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest presidents, who was an avid consumer of intelligence and a ruthless aficionado of clandestine warfare, willing to take whatever chances necessary to win the war. Lincoln’s Spies is a “meticulous chronicle of all facets of Lincoln’s war effort” (Kirkus Reviews) and an excellent choice for those wanting “a cracking good tale” (Publishers Weekly) of espionage in the Civil War.

Book The CIA s Secret War in Tibet

Download or read book The CIA s Secret War in Tibet written by Kenneth Conboy and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2002-04-04 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defiance against Chinese oppression has been a defining characteristic of Tibetan life for more than four decades, symbolized most visibly by the much revered Dalai Lama. But the story of Tibetan resistance weaves a far richer tapestry than anyone might have imagined. Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison reveal how America's Central Intelligence Agency encouraged Tibet's revolt against China-and eventually came to control its fledgling resistance movement. While the CIA's presence in Tibet has been alluded to in other works, the authors provide the first comprehensive, as well as most compelling account of this little known agency enterprise. The CIA's Secret War in Tibet takes readers from training camps in the Colorado Rockies to the scene of clandestine operations in the Himalayas, chronicling the agency's help in securing the Dalai Lama's safe passage to India and subsequent initiation of one of the most remote covert campaigns of the Cold War. Establishing a rebel army in the northern Nepali kingdom of Mustang and a para-commando force in India designed to operate behind Chinese lines, Conboy and Morrison provide previously unreported details about secret missions undertaken in extraordinarily harsh conditions. Their book greatly expands on previous memoirs by CIA officials by putting virtually every major agency participant on record with details of clandestine operations. It also calls as witnesses the people who managed and fought in the program-including Tibetan and Nepalese agents, Indian intelligence officers, and even mission aircrews. Conboy and Morrison take pains to tell the story from all perspectives, particularly that of the former Tibetan guerrillas, many of whom have gone on record here for the first time. The authors also tell how Tibet led America and India to become secret partners over the course of several presidential administrations and cite dozens of Indian and Tibetan intelligence documents directly related to these covert operations. Ultimately, they are persuasive that the Himalayan operations were far more successful as a proving ground for CIA agents who were later reassigned to southeast Asia than as a staging ground for armed rebellion. As the movement for Tibetan liberation continues to attract international support, Tibet's status remains a contentious issue in both Washington and Beijing. This book takes readers inside a covert war fought with Tibetan blood and U.S. sponsorship and allows us to better understand the true nature of that controversy.

Book Commandos

    Book Details:
  • Author : Douglas Waller
  • Publisher : Simon & Schuster
  • Release : 2020-02-18
  • ISBN : 1982128224
  • Pages : 416 pages

Download or read book Commandos written by Douglas Waller and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover what it takes to fight alongside the very best of America’s armed forces in this heart-pounding precursor to American Sniper and SEAL Team Six. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the most secret and elite of clandestine warriors, including the Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and Delta Force. Offering inside details of the US special operations forces, former Newsweek and Time correspondent Douglas Waller reveals the excruciating training and dangerous missions behind America’s elite fighting forces. Following them closely into battle in Operation Desert Storm, Waller shares never-before-revealed scenes and details from the US Special Forces–waged Scud-busting night raids, firefights, and some of the most unconventional and dangerous war missions in history. In this vivid account, Waller’s singular experience not only shines a light on the obstacles these soldiers face but gives an intimate portrait of the individual men and women serving our country. His inside reporting highlights the humanity of these soldiers by sharing their struggles, perseverance, and triumphs.

Book The Brandenburger Commandos

Download or read book The Brandenburger Commandos written by Franz Kurowski and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2005-09-27 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rare look into the secret military operations of Hitler's Germany Page-turning narrative detailing the unit's exploits Very few books have been written about this clandestine operations unit, which was run by the German Army's intelligence service. Trained to be quick, mobile, and self-reliant and steeped in local customs and languages, the Brandenburgers operated behind enemy lines around the world. From Western Europe to Romania, Russia, Egypt, Afghanistan, and World War II's other fronts, they seized bridges and other strategic targets and engaged in sabotage, espionage, and other daring missions-often bending the rules of war in the process. Although the unit was dissolved in 1944, its tactics influenced special forces around the world both during the war and after.

Book Disrupt and Deny

Download or read book Disrupt and Deny written by Rory Cormac and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-10 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disrupt and Deny is the untold story behind Britain's secret scheming against both enemies and friends from 1945 to the present day. British leaders use spies and Special Forces to interfere in the affairs of others discreetly and deniably. Since 1945, MI6 has spread misinformation designed to divide and discredit targets from the Middle East to Eastern Europe and Northern Ireland. It has instigated whispering campaigns and planted false evidence on officials working behind the Iron Curtain, tried to foment revolution in Albania, blown up ships to prevent the passage of refugees to Israel, and secretly funnelled aid to insurgents in Afghanistan and dissidents in Poland. MI6 has launched cultural and economic warfare against Iceland and Czechoslovakia. It has tried to instigate coups in Congo, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and elsewhere. Through bribery and blackmail, Britain has rigged elections as colonies moved to independence. Britain has fought secret wars in Yemen, Indonesia, and Oman - and discreetly used Special Forces to eliminate enemies from colonial Malaya to Libya during the Arab Spring. This is covert action: a vital, though controversial, tool of statecraft and perhaps the most sensitive of all government activity. If used wisely, it can play an important role in pursuing national interests in a dangerous world. If used poorly, it can cause political scandal - or worse. In Disrupt and Deny, Rory Cormac tells the remarkable true story of Britain's secret scheming against its enemies, as well as its friends; of intrigue and manoeuvring within the darkest corridors of Whitehall, where officials fought to maintain control of this most sensitive and seductive work; and, above all, of Britain's attempt to use smoke and mirrors to mask decline. He reveals hitherto secret operations, the slush funds that paid for them, and the battles in Whitehall that shaped them.

Book Spies and Special Forces

Download or read book Spies and Special Forces written by Jim Eldridge and published by Chicken House. This book was released on 2002 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an in-depth look at espionage in its many forms through factual tales based on historical events, such as the guerilla fighters in the Civil War and Ancient Roman invasions. Original.

Book Secret Army  Secret War

    Book Details:
  • Author : Sedgwick Downey Tourison
  • Publisher : US Naval Institute Press
  • Release : 1995
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 432 pages

Download or read book Secret Army Secret War written by Sedgwick Downey Tourison and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former Army intelligence officer and Defense Intelligence Agency analyst "Wick" Tourison unravels the tragically flawed and costly operation that according to many analysts helped trigger, the Vietnam War. Some b & w photos. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Book Spies in the Himalayas

Download or read book Spies in the Himalayas written by M. S. Kohli and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spies in the Himalayas chronicles for the first time the details of these expeditions sanctioned by U.S. and Indian intelligence, telling the story of clandestine climbs and hair-raising exploits. Led by legendary Indian mountaineer Mohan S. Kohli, conqueror of Everest, the mission was beset by hazardous climbs, weather delays, aborted attempts, and even missing radioactive materials that may or may not still pose contamination threat to Indian rivers.

Book Spies And Special Forces

Download or read book Spies And Special Forces written by Jim Eldridge and published by Turtleback. This book was released on 2002-12-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a collection of historical tales of espionage and special forces troops, based on factual events, including the ancient Roman invasion of Britain, the guerrilla fighters of the American Civil War, and other conflicts.

Book Secret Green Beret Commandos in Cambodia

Download or read book Secret Green Beret Commandos in Cambodia written by LTC Fred S. Lindsey and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 741 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We could call this book Special Operations Recon Mission Impossible. A small group of highly trained, resourceful US Special Forces (SF) men is asked to go in teams behind the enemy lines to gather intelligence on the North Vietnamese Army units that had infiltrated through Laos and Cambodia down the Ho Chi Minh trails to their secret bases inside the Cambodian border west of South Vietnam. The covert reconnaissance teams, of only two or three SF men with four or five experienced indigenous mercenaries each, were tasked to go into enemy target areas by foot or helicopter insertion. They could be 15 kilometers beyond any other friendly forces, with no artillery support. In sterile uniforms - with no insignia or identification, if they were killed or captured, their government would deny their military connection. The enemy had placed a price on their heads and had spies in their Top Secret headquarters known as SOG. SOG had three identical recon ground units along the border areas. This book tells the history of Command and Control Detachment South (CCS). The CCS volunteer warriors and its Air Partners the Army and Air Force helicopter transport and gunship crews who lived and fought together and sometimes died together. This is the first published history of CCS as compiled by its last living commander, some forty years after they were disbanded. It tells of the struggles and intrigue involved in SOGs development as the modern-day legacy of our modern Special Operations Commands. Forbidden to tell of their experiences for over twenty years; their After Action Reports destroyed even before they were declassified surviving veterans team together to tell how Recon men wounded averaged 100 percent; and SOG became the most highly decorated unit in Vietnam and all were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

Book X Troop

    Book Details:
  • Author : Leah Garrett
  • Publisher : HarperCollins
  • Release : 2021-05-25
  • ISBN : 0358177421
  • Pages : 373 pages

Download or read book X Troop written by Leah Garrett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE MONTH "This is the incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now." —Wall Street Journal “Brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter and The Liberator The incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and have lost their families, their homes—their whole worlds. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad. Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again, with stops at British internment camps, the beaches of Normandy, the battlefields of Italy and Holland, and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic, untold rescues of the war. For the first time, X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis. “Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge.”—Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s Furies

Book Journal of Special Operations Medicine

Download or read book Journal of Special Operations Medicine written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Code Breakers and Spies of the Vietnam War

Download or read book Code Breakers and Spies of the Vietnam War written by Andrew Coddington and published by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2018-07-15 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the conflict in Vietnam was much more than a battle between Vietnamese and American forces. Although the fighting may have taken place in monsoon-swept cities and booby-trapped jungles, the Vietnam War was fought on a much larger scale. Spies were active on all fronts, including within the United States itself. Readers will explore how technology and tactics not only shaped the Vietnam War, but changed the ethics of American surveillance from then until the present day.

Book U S  Army Special Warfare

Download or read book U S Army Special Warfare written by Alfred H. Paddock and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paddock also includes new sections on American psychological warfare in the Pacific, the Army Rangers, the 1st Special Service Force, and American-led guerrillas in the Philippines."--BOOK JACKET.

Book Death Zones and Darling Spies

Download or read book Death Zones and Darling Spies written by Beverly Deepe Keever and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2020-02-17 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chosen for 2015 One Book One Nebraska In 1961, equipped with a master's degree from famed Columbia Journalism School and letters of introduction to Associated Press bureau chiefs in Asia, twenty-six-year-old Beverly Deepe set off on a trip around the world. Allotting just two weeks to South Vietnam, she was still there seven years later, having then earned the distinction of being the longest-serving American correspondent covering the Vietnam War and garnering a Pulitzer Prize nomination. In Death Zones and Darling Spies, Beverly Deepe Keever describes what it was like for a farm girl from Nebraska to find herself halfway around the world, trying to make sense of one of the nation's bloodiest and bitterest wars. She arrived in Saigon as Vietnam's war entered a new phase and American helicopter units and provincial advisers were unpacking. She tells of traveling from her Saigon apartment to jungles where Wild West-styled forts first dotted Vietnam's borders and where, seven years later, they fell like dominoes from communist-led attacks. In 1965 she braved elephant grass with American combat units armed with unparalleled technology to observe their valor--and their inability to distinguish friendly farmers from hide-and-seek guerrillas. Keever's trove of tissue-thin memos to editors, along with published and unpublished dispatches for New York and London media, provide the reader with you-are-there descriptions of Buddhist demonstrations and turning-point coups as well as phony ones. Two Vietnamese interpreters, self-described as "darling spies," helped her decode Vietnam's shadow world and subterranean war. These memoirs, at once personal and panoramic, chronicle the horrors of war and a rise and decline of American power and prestige.