Hailed as "powerful and provocative" (Washington Post); "heart-pounding" (New York Times) and "brilliant" (Kirkus); intelligence expert Mark Riebling's groundbreaking book Wedge inspired "no fewer than seven assorted congressional committees; internal evaluators; and blue-ribbon panels" (Wall Street Journal). Now; in the long-awaited Church of Spies; Riebling documents an epic secret battle in the Second World War -- and reframes one of the great historical controversies of our age.
#1343340 in Books 1993-10-05Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.50 x 6.50 x 2.25l; 3.12 #File Name: 0465051529816 pages793 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A wonderful bookBy JohnstonA wonderful history book; it's the best history of the North Pacific I have ever read.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Entertaining as well as informativeBy WinifredThis is a wonderfully entertaining as well as informative book. I already knew bits and pieces of this history; but McDougall puts it together in a very different way by focusing on the struggle to dominate the north Pacific. I was especially unaware of Russia and Hawaii's roles in the area; and I enjoyed his musings on the complexity of the various power struggles and the errors often committed by the players.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Prismatic View of HistoryBy Theodore KobernickI appreciate the earlier reader comments. But there is a major aspect of Walter A. McDougall's "Let the Sea Make a Noise" they may have missed.McDougal treats the history of events as expressions of viewpoints of those events. It is as though a light shone on the events; and the light passed through a prism; which broke the light into its component colors. All of these colors represent different views of those events. In other words; historical events and their significance will be seen differently by different persons.McDougall is aware of these different views; and he respects them. But perhaps his greatest success as a writer of history is this: he does not merely present the various viewpoints; and let us make up our underinformed minds. Instead; he fictitiously brings back to life various historical figures; and puts the different opinions in their mouths. Most of these characters disagree with the "author;" who expresses McDougall's views. These characters are a brilliant device for presenting conflicting -- or balancing -- views of historical events.In a lighter vein -- when I see a public project where the taxpayers are being ripped off; I think of one of McDougall's characters. He is a Russian; who sees that the U.S.A. is better off than Russia because their big-time ripoff artists merely rob the public; while ours actually do create worthwhile projects. Of course the book was written before our huge financial meltdown.It's a great read. Get it. Enjoy it.
