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Disciples
- The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's summary
The author of the critically acclaimed best seller Wild Bill Donovan tells the story of four OSS warriors of World War II. All four later led the CIA.
They are the most famous and controversial directors the CIA has ever had - Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, William Colby, and William Casey. Disciples is the story of these dynamic agents and their daring espionage and sabotage in wartime Europe under OSS Director Bill Donovan.
Allen Dulles ran the OSS' most successful spy operation against the Axis. Bill Casey organized dangerous missions to penetrate Nazi Germany. Bill Colby led OSS commando raids behind the lines in occupied France and Norway. Richard Helms mounted risky intelligence programs against the Russians in the ruin of Berlin after the German surrender.
Four very different men, they later led (or misled) the successor CIA. Dulles launched the calamitous operation to land CIA-trained, anti-Castro guerrillas at Cuba's Bay of Pigs. Helms was convicted of lying to Congress over the CIA's role in the coup that ousted Chile's president. Colby would become a pariah for releasing to Congress what became known as the "Family Jewels" report on CIA misdeeds during the 1950s, '60s and early '70s. Casey would nearly bring down the CIA - and Ronald Reagan's presidency - from a scheme that secretly supplied Nicaragua's contras with money raked off from the sale of arms to Iran for American hostages in Beirut.
Mining thousands of once-secret World War II documents and interviewing scores of family members and CIA colleagues, Waller has written a brilliant successor to Wild Bill Donovan.
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In 1946, Master Sergeant Donald Nichols was repairing jeeps on the sleepy island of Guam when he caught the eye of recruiters from the army's Counter Intelligence Corps. After just three months' training, he was sent to Korea, then a backwater beneath the radar of MacArthur's Pacific Command. Though he lacked the pedigree of most US spies - Nichols was a seventh-grade dropout - he quickly metamorphosed from army mechanic to black ops phenomenon.
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Unplayable recording
- By Lin Tin-tin on 10-18-24
By: Blaine Harden
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Operation Columba - The Secret Pigeon Service
- The Untold Story of World War II Resistance in Europe
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Gordon Corera uses declassified documents and extensive original research to tell the story of the Operation Columba and the Secret Pigeon Service for the first time. A tale of wartime espionage, bitter rivalries, extraordinary courage, astonishing betrayal, harrowing tragedy, and a quirky, quarrelsome band of spy masters and their special mission, Operation Columba opens a fascinating new chapter in the annals of World War II. It is ultimately, the story of how, in one of the darkest and most dangerous times in history, under threat of death, people bravely chose to resist.
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Belgium Pigeon
- By Don Rottiers on 08-10-21
By: Gordon Corera
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The Good Spy
- The Life and Death of Robert Ames
- By: Kai Bird
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history - a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West. On April 18, 1983, a bomb exploded outside the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The attack was a geopolitical turning point. It marked the beginning of Hezbollah as a political force, but even more important, it eliminated America’s most influential and effective intelligence officer in the Middle East - CIA operative Robert Ames.
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Biased but interesting
- By Peggy on 05-09-18
By: Kai Bird
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Operation Whisper
- The Capture of Soviet Spies Morris and Lona Cohen
- By: Barnes Carr
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Operation Whisper, Barnes Carr tells the true story of the most effective Soviet spy couple in America, a pair who vanished under the FBI's nose only to turn up posing as rare book dealers in London, where they continued their atomic spying. The Cohens were talented, dedicated, worldly spies - an urbane, jet-set couple loyal to their service and their friends. Most people they met seemed to think they represented the best of America. The Soviets certainly thought so.
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Too many facts details
- By Rebecca C. Browne on 10-02-17
By: Barnes Carr
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Madame Fourcade's Secret War
- The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1941 a 31-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of a vast intelligence organization - the only woman to serve as a chef de résistance during the war. Strong-willed, independent, and a lifelong rebel against her country’s conservative, patriarchal society, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was temperamentally made for the job. No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence. Fourcade was captured twice by the Nazis - and both times she managed to escape.
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Marvelous book, inappropriate narrator
- By Phoebs on 03-07-19
By: Lynne Olson
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The Fourth Star
- Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army
- By: David Cloud, Greg Jaffe
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam. They survived the military's brutal winnowing to reach its top echelon. They became the Army's most influential generals in the crucible of Iraq. Collectively, their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect the nation over the next century.
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Learning from the Military
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: David Cloud, and others
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The Road Not Taken
- Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam
- By: Max Boot
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In chronicling the adventurous life of legendary CIA operative Edward Lansdale, The Road Not Taken definitively reframes our understanding of the Vietnam War. In this epic biography of Edward Lansdale (1908-1987) best-selling historian Max Boot demonstrates how Lansdale pioneered a "hearts and mind" diplomacy, first in the Philippines, then in Vietnam. It was a visionary policy that, as Boot reveals, was ultimately crushed by America's giant military bureaucracy.
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An honest look at Vietnam Nam and USA
- By Catherine on 01-16-18
By: Max Boot
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A Woman of No Importance
- The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and - despite her prosthetic leg - helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.
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Maybe it’s the narrator?
- By Andrea on 09-18-19
By: Sonia Purnell
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The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
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A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
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Destination Casablanca
- Exile, Espionage, and the Battle for North Africa in World War II
- By: Meredith Hindley
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 17 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In November 1942, as a part of Operation Torch, 33,000 American soldiers sailed undetected across the Atlantic and stormed the beaches of French Morocco. Seventy-four hours later, the Americans controlled the country and one of the most valuable wartime ports: Casablanca. In the years preceding, Casablanca had evolved from an exotic travel destination to a key military target after France's surrender to Germany. Jewish refugees from Europe poured in, hoping to obtain visas and passage to the United States and beyond.
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A city of intrigue
- By David on 11-30-17
By: Meredith Hindley
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Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs
- The Unknown Story of World War II's OSS
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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"A revealing look into the intrigue and extraordinary courage of our intelligence gatherers of World War II. A rare combination of suspense thriller and true heroism by a great American writer." (Clive Cussler, New York Times best-selling author)
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Great book...
- By Nicholas G. on 05-11-05
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Into the Lion's Mouth
- The True Story of Dusko Popov: Word War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond
- By: Larry Loftis
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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James Bond has nothing on Dusko Popov. A double agent for the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI during World War II, Popov seduced numerous women, spoke five languages, and was a crack shot, all while maintaining his cover as a Yugoslavian diplomat....
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A boring account of exciting events.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-30-18
By: Larry Loftis
What listeners say about Disciples
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C.R.Antoniak
- 08-22-16
Another good history
A good history of the CIA, from the OSS era through the Bay of Pigs.
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- HolgerDanske
- 02-25-16
One of the best books!
One of the best books on the beginning of the modern United States intelligence service and the men who by different paths came to lead the CIA.
It is a must read for those who are interested in intelligence and history.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Byron J. Swafford
- 08-25-22
Boring at First, but don’t miss it.
It irritated me to listen about who married who, where they went to college, and calling them The Best Of American Families. I think 90+% of American Families during WW2 were The Best of American Families. But after the society part and who they went to parties with, it turned out good. The WW2 part was very interesting and I think you’ll like it.
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- Zachary Urgento
- 12-04-16
Good book, terrible performance
What didn’t you like about George Newbern’s performance?
If he said M-16 instead of MI-6 one more time I was going to lose it. There was a slew of mispronounced words and the variance of his reading varied greatly from chapter to chapter.
Do you think Disciples needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
No, it was a follow up already.
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- Annie M.
- 03-21-16
A "Boys in the Boat" for WWII Intrigue
Would you listen to Disciples again? Why?
I actually have listened to several sections a few times, just to make sure I have all the characters right. And there are so many intriguing personalities going on here. To think this was real! This would make a great espionage film! Jason Bourne for reals, kids!
Who was your favorite character and why?
The author has so skillfully profiles every one of the young men who volunteered for Wild Bill Donovan's fledgling espionage ring, known as the OSS. I think my favorite might be Richard Helms, who was a gawky guy, too tall, too thin, too unhealthy. No branch of the military wanted him. But he persevered and ended up finding his stride in the OSS. So many of the members of this legendary group were rich or handsome-or both! Dick Helms is kind of the geeky guy you want to root for.
What about George Newbern’s performance did you like?
Great books can be ruined by poor narrative skills. Happy to say that George Newbern did a great job. He was so pleasant to my ear, in fact, that I found myself pausing to look him up, to see what else he's read. If I see his name under "Narrated by" for any future book purchases...well, that's a strong recommendation!
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I like this book so much, I'm reviewing it before even getting half-way through. But so far, what I find really touching is how all the players were eager to give up their own lives in order to fight the Nazis. We were losing the war and a lot of it had to do with the lack of solid espionage skills. These guys helped to change the direction of the war.
Any additional comments?
In the vein of truly great historic tomes such as SEABISCUIT, UNBROKEN, and BOYS IN THE BOAT, this is a deeply researched, well-crafted book that keeps you turning the page as you get to know--and cheer--for the men who became the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Whether you like spycraft, or just love a good history book, this is a winner.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Rachel
- 08-27-17
Detailed but Slightly Overwhelming Book
Would you consider the audio edition of Disciples to be better than the print version?
I have mixed feelings about whether the audio edition is better than the print edition since there are a lot of names and places throughout this book. This is a history text that I felt would have been useful to have some written notes so the printed version would have helped, but the audio edition made the book easier to get through. I probably would have given up on the printed version.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Disciples?
I couldn't really pick a moment of this book that was really memorable for me. There was just a lot of information in this book that taught me about the OSS and CIA that I didn't know before so I couldn't really pick just one moment. I found it really interesting how all the agents were found and chosen; even though they weren't the brawny, athletic type of men one sees in the spy movies they were chose for their intelligence and abilities.
What does George Newbern bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
George Newbern brings a certain calmness to the book that made me want to continue reading. In truth, I probably would have given up on the print version if it wasn't for his voice. I was able to listen to him for long periods of time.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Even though I could listen to George Newbern for long periods of time, this wasn't one of those books that I could finish in one setting because of how long it is. It would be super easy to tone this book out if a person listened for too long.
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- Joanne
- 08-10-16
Good Storytelling
A well written glimpse behind the veil of history, espionage and sabotage. Shadowy characters brought into the light and revealed to be loyal patriots whether you agree with their decisions and actions or not.
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