Scorpions' Dance Audiobook By Jefferson Morley cover art

Scorpions' Dance

The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Scorpions' Dance

By: Jefferson Morley
Narrated by: John Pruden
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

For the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in: The untold story of President Richard Nixon, CIA Director Richard Helms, and their volatile shared secrets that ended a presidency.

Scorpions' Dance by intelligence expert and investigative journalist Jefferson Morley reveals the Watergate scandal in a completely new light: as the culmination of a concealed, deadly power struggle between President Richard Nixon and CIA Director Richard Helms.

Nixon and Helms went back decades; both were 1950s Cold Warriors, and both knew secrets about the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba as well as off-the-books American government and CIA plots to remove Fidel Castro and other leaders in Latin America. Both had enough information on each other to ruin their careers.

After the Watergate burglary on June 17, 1972, Nixon was desperate to shut down the FBI's investigation. He sought Helms' support and asked that the CIA intervene—knowing that most of the Watergate burglars were retired CIA agents, contractors, or long-term assets with deep knowledge of the Agency's most sensitive secrets. The two now circled each other like scorpions, defending themselves with the threat of lethal attack. The loser would resign his office in disgrace; the winner, however, would face consequences for the secrets he had kept.

Rigorously researched and dramatically told, Scorpions' Dance uses long-neglected evidence to reveal a new perspective on one of America's most notorious presidential scandals.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

©2022 Jefferson Morley (P)2022 Macmillan Audio
Americas Freedom & Security History & Theory Intelligence & Espionage Political Science Politics & Government United States Espionage Richard Nixon Vietnam War
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
Jefferson Morley is a superb researcher and reporter into the dark intrigue of the intelligence community in the 1960s and 70s.

Great reporting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

good solid historical book that smoothly links together items that may seem unrelated but in fact are deeply linked and there are ramifications from this era to this very day.

Tin soldiers and Helms is coming!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The book doesn’t stray off topic. The author’s point is that: Watergate and the Kennedy assassination are two parts of the same story. Morley does a fantastic job weaving together a hidden history. It’s like if a red string wall was historically accurate. I recommend this as a companion to: Legacy of Ashes, also on Audible.

Excellent and detailed history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

When one considers how much came to light - that the CIA was not completely torn down and restructured. Makes one wonder how bad things are now. Great research and compellingly paced.

Amazing well documented. Shocking in content.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

seems more like a jfk assassination book than Watergate coverup book. The author is obviously knowledgeable and passionate about both topics and what's more intriguing than CIA working against our own citizenry for political means. I just found it to stray too far sometimes into other topics (namely the JFK assassination). Overall though very interesting and not too shabby.

strays off topic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Content that seems is a bit of a stretch at most to believe. New way of slanting the details and facts to blame the incredulous. Nixon and CIA…

Another Nixon Book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Very revealing and educational. Well-written with an excellent vocabulary. Really rounds out the story of Nov. 22, 1963 which I listened to in a previous book here on Audible.

Illuminating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.