Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 1952-54 - Hardcover

Cullather, Nick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804733104 ISBN 13: 9780804733106

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 1999

Synopsis

In 1992, the CIA hired the young historian Nick Cullather to write a history (classified 'secret' and for internal distribution only) of the Agency's Operation PBSUCCESS, which overthrew the lawful government of Guatemala in 1954. Given full access to the Agency's archives, he produced a vivid insider's account, intended as a training manual for covert operators, detailing how the CIA chose targets, planned strategies, and organized the mechanics of waging a secret war. In 1997, during a brief period of open disclosure, the CIA declassified the history with remarkably few substantive deletions. The New York Times called it 'an astonishingly frank account ...which may be a high-water mark in the agency's openness.' Here is that account, with new notes by the author which clarify points in the history and add newly available information.

About this title

Review:

"Cullather provides a realistic and nuanced view of an otherwise well-covered operation, seen through the eyes of the agency that led PBSUCCESS ...By providing the insider's view of the operations Cullather has offered invaluable detail and insight previously unavailable. For students of Latin America and U.S. national security policymaking in the region, Cullather has done a great service."-Mark Montesclaros, H-Net Reviews

About the Author:

Nick Cullather is Associate Professor of History at Indiana University. He is the author of Illusions of Influence: The Political Economy of United States-Philipines Relations, 1942-1966 (Stanford, 1994).

About this edition

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0804733104
• ISBN 13: 9780804733106
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 182