Indochina Hand
Tales of a CIA Case Officer
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- 125,00 kr
Publisher Description
Barry Broman joined the CIA in 1971 straight out of the Marine Corps, choosing a career in intelligence largely because he wanted to spend his working life in Southeast Asia. Over the next thirty years, he had the privilege of working with brave men and women who were prepared to put their lives on the line in support of the free world during the Cold War, and he enjoyed the life of adventure he had been seeking since childhood.
This book brings together tales from his career as a CIA case officer during the Cold War, giving fascinating insights into handling double agents, working in denied areas, assessing and recruiting Soviet targets, flying with Air America, acting to discredit Soviet agents with Moscow, and what happened when a case officer set a “scavenger hunt” around Bangkok for fellow spies—and at least one active target.
A selection of stories told in engaging style proving that often the truth is more unbelievable than fiction.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Broman, in the sequel to his 2020 memoir Risk Taker, Spy Maker, details more of his life and times in 62 short, breezily written vignettes. They include accounts of his service as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War, and of the three decades after that, beginning in 1971, when he joined the CIA and served mainly in Southeast Asia. The episodic chapters include much reconstructed dialogue and stories of pseudonymous intelligence agents Broman worked with. For the first six months of his eventful 1969 tour of duty in Vietnam, Broman served as a platoon commander at An Hòa Combat Base, where he saw action almost on a daily basis "on the front lines in a war that didn't really have front lines." The chronicle of his Cold War CIA career bounces around the globe with his own recollections of running agents and other espionage derring-do, as well as stories told to him by friends and colleagues. There's also a good deal about his off-duty travels throughout the world. The result is an anecdote-heavy, if often stimulating, meander down memory lane.
