The Art Of Intelligence (2012) Crumpton, a longtime officer in the CIA's Clandestine Service, was a master spy recruiter who led the agency's post-9/11 work in Afghanistan. His book is… Memoir Penguin
SPY RECRUITER Risky rescues and play-by-play accounts from White House Situation Room meetings provide the thrilling meat of Crumpton's memoir
SPY RECRUITER Risky rescues and play-by-play accounts from White House Situation Room meetings provide the thrilling meat of Crumpton's memoir
EW's GRADE
B

Details Release Date: May 14, 2012; Writer: Henry A. Crumpton; Genre: Memoir; Publisher: Penguin

Crumpton, a longtime officer in the CIA's Clandestine Service, was a master spy recruiter who led the agency's post-9/11 work in Afghanistan. His book is packed with such stunning stories — daring helicopter rescues, play-by-play from White House Situation Room meetings — that it's easy to forget Crumpton is the consummate spook, using his buttery espionage skills to gloss over top secret details wherever necessary (like the "long private discussion" he had with Hamid Karzai in an otherwise riveting chapter on Kandahar). In The Art of Intelligence, Crumpton's telling just what he wants to tell — or has been cleared to tell. Nothing more. B

Originally posted May 16, 2012 Published in issue #1208 May 25, 2012 Order article reprints