Spying in America: Espionage from the Revolutionary War to the Dawn of the Cold War

by Michael J. Sulick

Overview

Can you keep a secret?

Maybe you can, but the United States government cannot. Since the birth of the country, nations large and small, from Russia and China to Ghana and Ecuador, have stolen the most precious secrets of the United States.

Written by Michael Sulick, former director of CIA’s clandestine service, Spying in America presents a history of more than thirty espionage cases inside the United States. These cases include Americans who spied against their country, spies from both the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War, and foreign agents who ran operations on American soil. Some of the stories are familiar, such as those of Benedict Arnold and Julius Rosenberg, while others, though less well known, are equally fascinating.

From the American Revolution, through the Civil War and two World Wars, to the atomic age of the Manhattan Project, Sulick details the lives of those who have betrayed America’s secrets. In each case he focuses on the motivations that drove these individuals to spy, their access and the secrets they betrayed, their tradecraft or techniques for concealing their espionage, their exposure and punishment, and the damage they ultimately inflicted on America’s national security.

Spying in America serves as the perfect introduction to the early history of espionage in America. Sulick’s unique experience as a senior intelligence officer is evident as he skillfully guides the reader through these cases of intrigue, deftly illustrating the evolution of American awareness about espionage and the fitful development of American counterespionage leading up to the Cold War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626160583
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	855,123
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael J. Sulick is a retired intelligence operations officer who worked for the CIA for twenty-eight years. He served as chief of CIA counterintelligence from 2002-4 and as director of the National Clandestine Service from 2007-10, where he was responsible for supervising the agency’s covert collection operations and coordinating the espionage activities of the US intelligence community.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: The Peril of Disbelief

Part I: The Revolutionary War1. Espionage and the Revolutionary War 2. The First Spy: Benjamin Church 3. The Undetected Spy: Edward Bancroft4. The Treasonous Spy: Benedict Arnold

Part II: The Civil War5. Espionage and the Civil War6. Allan Pinkerton and Union Counterintelligence7. The Chameleon Spy: Timothy Webster 8. The Spy in the Union Capital: Rose Greenhow9. The Counterspy as Tyrant: Lafayette Baker 10. The Confederacy’s Reverend Spy: Thomas Conrad 11. Union Espionage

Part III: Espionage During the World Wars 1914-194512. Espionage before World War I 13. Prelude to War: Germany’s First Spy Network 14. US Counterespionage and World War I 15. Spy Hysteria between the World Wars 16. German Espionage in World War II 17. The Spy in US Industry: The Norden Bombsight 18. The Double Agent: William Sebold 19. German Intelligence Failure in World War II 20. The Spy in the State Department: Tyler Kent 21. Japanese Espionage in World War II

Part IV: The Golden Age of Soviet Espionage—the 1930s and 1940s22. The Origins of Cold War Espionage 23. America’s Counterespionage Weapon: Venona 24. The Golden Age Exposed: Igor Gouzenko 25. The “Red Spy Queen”: Elizabeth Bentley 26. Spy versus Spy: Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss27. The Spy in the Treasury: Harry Dexter White 28. The Spy in the White House: Lauchlin Currie 29. The Spy in US Counterespionage: Judith Coplon

Part V: The Atomic Bomb Spies: Prelude to the Cold War30. The Atomic Bomb Spies 31. The Executed Spies: The Rosenbergs 32. The Atomic Bomb Spy Who Got Away: Theodore Hall 33. The Spy from the Cornfields: George Koval

Notes

Conclusion: Espionage in the Cold War and Beyond

Bibliography

About the Author

Index

What People are Saying About This

Hayden B. Peake

Spying In America reveals how important espionage has been to the American chronicle. Historian Michael Sulick tells the story from a unique perspective―a career clandestine services officer who knows what is important. As motivating as Lawrence of Arabia; as insightful as le Carré; as reliable as David McCullough . . . indispensable reading for a basic foundation.

David G. Major

Spying in America could only have been written by an intelligence professional as experienced and knowledgeable as Michael Sulick. He knows the intelligence and counterintelligence disciplines in a way most are never exposed to. His special insights are invaluable as he weaves connections between events and cases that are essential. . . .This book is a fast, easy read with compelling material that should be on the bookshelves of any real student of the subject.

From the Publisher

"Spying In America reveals how important espionage has been to the American chronicle. Historian Michael Sulick tells the story from a unique perspectivea career clandestine services officer who knows what is important. As motivating as Lawrence of Arabia; as insightful as le Carré; as reliable as David McCullough . . . indispensable reading for a basic foundation."—Hayden B. Peake, former army and CIA intelligence officer

"Spying in America could only have been written by an intelligence professional as experienced and knowledgeable as Michael Sulick. He knows the intelligence and counterintelligence disciplines in a way most are never exposed to. His special insights are invaluable as he weaves connections between events and cases that are essential. . . .This book is a fast, easy read with compelling material that should be on the bookshelves of any real student of the subject."—David G. Major, president and founder of the CI Centre and SPYPEDIA

"Sulick's book is an extraordinarily valuable addition to the historical literature on espionage. In it he adds new insight on some of the well-known instances of spying in America but more importantly he illuminates many of the lesser known cases that hold important lessons for scholars and practitioners alike. In doing so, he brings to life an aspect of American history that few understand or know about and performs a genuine service to both the academic and national security professions."—John McLaughlin, Former Deputy Director and Acting Director, CIA

John McLaughlin

Sulick's book is an extraordinarily valuable addition to the historical literature on espionage. In it he adds new insight on some of the well-known instances of spying in America but more importantly he illuminates many of the lesser known cases that hold important lessons for scholars and practitioners alike. In doing so, he brings to life an aspect of American history that few understand or know about and performs a genuine service to both the academic and national security professions.

Editorial Reviews

Sulick has provided an accessible book that is not only an entertaining read but which also can be a useful reference . . . . He has successfully illuminated the enduring essence of espionage and made a strong case that the United States needs always to be on guard.

Political Science Quarterly

A fascinating read that is certain to captivate and entertain.

Naples Florida Weekly

If you wanted to dip your toes into the wide world of spying, this is a good place to start.

San Francisco Book Review

A study of history of spying and spy catching could be wonkish or overly political. This book is neither, thanks to Sulick's considerable storytelling skills and his background. . . . Anyone reading this fast-paced history of American spying won't need to rely on other volumes. This book stands convincingly on its own.

Fordham Magazine

A fascinating read that is certain to captivate and entertain.

A study of history of spying and spy catching could be wonkish or overly political. This book is neither, thanks to Sulick's considerable storytelling skills and his background. . . . Anyone reading this fast-paced history of American spying won't need to rely on other volumes. This book stands convincingly on its own.

As a former CIA chief of counterintelligence and director of the National Clandestine Service, Sulick offers glimpses into the motivations, operations, and mistakes of both individuals and nations in this examination of 30 acts of espionage....His simple style breezes the reader through one individual and era of American history after another. . . . These annals read like fiction, which plays into Sulick's statement that, due to our unique geographical location and emphasis on individual liberties, Americans possess a disbelief that the threat of espionage exists within our borders. . . . Yet as Sulick proves with this broad work, foreign attempts at espionage have existed since the country's inception and will surely continue.

If you wanted to dip your toes into the wide world of spying, this is a good place to start.

Mr. Sulick's timely and valuable book, Spying in America: Espionage from the Revolutionary War to the Dawn of the Cold War, should have been required reading before those ladies and gentlemen [of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee] ever sought national office, because in its succinct, well-written chapters, the author lays out a history few Americans know and some barely even suspect . . . Mr. Sulick's equally painstaking abilities as a historian have allowed him to produce a book that is unfailingly succinct but richly illustrated and well documented. He also brings his practical experience as an intelligence operator to a thought provoking concluding chapter.

Reading Michael Sulick on the subject [of espionage] is akin to taking a tour of London with the queen of England as your personal guide. The author comes with blue-ribbon credentials: he served in the CIA as an operations officer for 28 years, in positions including chief of counterintelligence and director of the National Clandestine Service.

Recognizing a gap in the subject literature, Sulick, a 28-year veteran of the CIA, including years overseeing its clandestine and counterintelligence departments, has written an informative collection of case studies, rather than a narrative history, reviewing some of the most important espionage activities against the United States and within its borders. He highlights the tradecraft of the spies, their access to secret information, American bureaucratic turf wars, and (in many cases very belated) counterespionage efforts. . . . What is most interesting are the motivations of citizens to betray their own country in contrast to those sent here to spy on us . . . The author certainly knows the subject inside and out. This is an easy-to-read introduction for interested laypersons or those taking beginning courses on the history of intelligence operations.

Sulick blends the historical record with his own intelligence expertise to create a nonfiction espionage thriller on par with the best of Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.

Sulick has provided an accessible book that is not only an entertaining read but which also can be a useful reference . . . . He has successfully illuminated the enduring essence of espionage and made a strong case that the United States needs always to be on guard.

Sulick, the former chief of the CIA's counterintelligence branch, has written a remarkable account of those who betrayed their country and those who sought to apprehend them...A vital addition to academic libraries as well as for readers interested in the early Cold War.

Sure to become a seminal contribution to the scholarship of intelligence.

From the Publisher

Sure to become a seminal contribution to the scholarship of intelligence.

Raleigh Metro Magazine

Reading Michael Sulick on the subject [of espionage] is akin to taking a tour of London with the queen of England as your personal guide. The author comes with blue-ribbon credentials: he served in the CIA as an operations officer for 28 years, in positions including chief of counterintelligence and director of the National Clandestine Service.

The Washington Times - Joseph C. Goulden

Mr. Sulick’s timely and valuable book, Spying in America: Espionage from the Revolutionary War to the Dawn of the Cold War, should have been required reading before those ladies and gentlemen [of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee] ever sought national office, because in its succinct, well-written chapters, the author lays out a history few Americans know and some barely even suspect . . . Mr. Sulick’s equally painstaking abilities as a historian have allowed him to produce a book that is unfailingly succinct but richly illustrated and well documented. He also brings his practical experience as an intelligence operator to a thought provoking concluding chapter.

New York Journal of Books - Kenneth Allard

Sulick, the former chief of the CIA’s counterintelligence branch, has written a remarkable account of those who betrayed their country and those who sought to apprehend them…A vital addition to academic libraries as well as for readers interested in the early Cold War.

Choice

Spying In America reveals how important espionage has been to the American chronicle. Historian Michael Sulick tells the story from a unique perspective―a career clandestine services officer who knows what is important. As motivating as Lawrence of Arabia; as insightful as le Carré; as reliable as David McCullough . . . indispensable reading for a basic foundation.

Hayden B. Peake

Spying in America could only have been written by an intelligence professional as experienced and knowledgeable as Michael Sulick. He knows the intelligence and counterintelligence disciplines in a way most are never exposed to. His special insights are invaluable as he weaves connections between events and cases that are essential. . . .This book is a fast, easy read with compelling material that should be on the bookshelves of any real student of the subject.

David G. Major

Sulick's book is an extraordinarily valuable addition to the historical literature on espionage. In it he adds new insight on some of the well-known instances of spying in America but more importantly he illuminates many of the lesser known cases that hold important lessons for scholars and practitioners alike. In doing so, he brings to life an aspect of American history that few understand or know about and performs a genuine service to both the academic and national security professions.

John McLaughlin

As a former CIA chief of counterintelligence and director of the National Clandestine Service, Sulick offers glimpses into the motivations, operations, and mistakes of both individuals and nations in this examination of 30 acts of espionage. He analyzes each according to six fundamental elements: motivation, access, tradecraft, exposure, punishment, and resultant damage. In Sulick's view all instances of espionage are bound by "money, ego, revenge, romance, simple thrills, ideological sympathy, and dual loyalties." His simple style breezes the reader through one individual and era of American history after another, from the truth about Benedict Arnold's burden on the British crown, to how a German spook accidentally left a valuable briefcase on the New York subway. These annals read like fiction, which plays into Sulick's statement that, due to our unique geographical location and emphasis on individual liberties, Americans possess a disbelief that the threat of espionage exists within our borders as well as an unwillingness to sacrifice said liberties to undermine or counter these threats. Yet as Sulick proves with this broad work, foreign attempts at espionage have existed since the country's inception and will surely continue.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

Recognizing a gap in the subject literature, Sulick, a 28-year veteran of the CIA, including years overseeing its clandestine and counterintelligence departments, has written an informative collection of case studies, rather than a narrative history, reviewing some of the most important espionage activities against the United States and within its borders. He highlights the tradecraft of the spies, their access to secret information, American bureaucratic turf wars, and (in many cases very belated) counterespionage efforts. He assesses in each case what damage was done to the country. What is most interesting are the motivations of citizens to betray their own country in contrast to those sent here to spy on us. This work is well documented with a wide variety of open source books, articles, government publications, and online reports. A minor quibble is that a chronology would have been helpful. The book covers espionage from the Revolution through the Cold War, with limited coverage of recent years. The author certainly knows the subject inside and out.

Verdict While the experts know all about these cases, this is an easy-to-read introduction for interested laypersons or those taking beginning courses on the history of intelligence operations.—Daniel Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Library Journal