{"product_id":"spying-through-a-glass-darkly-american-espionage-against-the-soviet-union-1945-1946-hardcover","title":"Spying Through a Glass Darkly: American Espionage Against the Soviet Union, 1945-1946 - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDavid Alvarez\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eEduard Mark\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the period between World War II and the full onset of the Cold War, histories of American intelligence seem to go dark. Yet in those years a little known clandestine organization, the Strategic Services Unit (SSU), emerged from the remnants of wartime American intelligence to lay the groundwork for what would become the CIA and, in ways revealed here for the first time, conduct its own secret war of espionage and political intrigue in postwar Europe. Telling the full story of this early and surprisingly effective espionage arm of the United States, \u003ci\u003eSpying through a Glass Darkly\u003c\/i\u003e brings a critical chapter in the history of Cold War intelligence out of the shadows. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eConstrained by inadequate staff and limited resources, distracted by the conflicting demands of agencies of the U.S. government, and victimized by disinformation and double agents, the Strategic Services Unit struggled to maintain an effective American clandestine capability after the defeat of the Axis Powers. Never viscerally anti-communist, the Strategic Services Unit was slow to recognize the Soviet Union as a potential threat, but gradually it began to mount operations, often in collaboration with the intelligence services of Britain, France, Italy, Denmark, and Sweden, to throw light into the darker corners of the Soviet regime. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBringing to bear a wealth of archival documents, operational records, interviews, and correspondence, David Alvarez and Eduard Mark chronicle SSU's successes and failures in procuring intelligence on the capabilities and intentions of the Soviet Union, a chronicle that delves deeply into the details of secret operations against Soviet targets throughout Europe: not only in the backstreets of the divided cities of Berlin and Vienna, but also the cafes, hotels, offices, and salons of such cosmopolitan capitals as Paris, Rome, Budapest, Prague, and Warsaw. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA remarkable account of a clandestine war of espionage, kidnappings, blackmail, disinformation, and political subversion, \u003ci\u003eSpying through a Glass Darkly\u003c\/i\u003e also describes the quantity and quality of intelligence collected by SSU and disseminated to its \"customers\" in the U.S. government--information that would influence the attitudes and actions of decision makers and, as the Cold War evolved, the course of the nation in a new and dangerous world.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 360\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9.3 x 6.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 15, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45605824430124,"sku":"9780700621927","price":107.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/smartsupplydeals.com\/products\/spying-through-a-glass-darkly-american-espionage-against-the-soviet-union-1945-1946-hardcover","provider":"Smart supply deals","version":"1.0","type":"link"}