Overview

The vivid and engaging memoir of a CIA case officer. Barry Broman has led a remarkable life, and met some remarkable people along the way of his years at a Central Intelligence Agency case officer. Broman was a teenage photographer for the Associated Press in Southeast Asia, then a Marine Corps infantry officer in combat in Vietnam before spending a quarter century as a ""head-hunter"" with dozens of recruits for the Clandestine Service in operations around the world. Mr. Broman received a BA in Political Science in 1967 followed by an MA in Southeast Asian Studies a year later. Immediately following his service in the Marine Corps, he was recruited by the CIA and spent his first posting in Cambodia at war. He was present at the fall of Phnom Penh in 1975, escaping just before the Khmer Rouge took power. He subsequently served in other Asian postings, one in Europe, and one in the Western Hemisphere. During his career, Mr. Broman was twice a CIA chief of station, once a Deputy Chief of Station, and supervised an international para-military project in support of the Cambodian resistance to Vietnamese invaders. He was actively involved in several assignments in counter-narcotics operations in Southeast Asia including a major ""bust"" that yielded 551 kilograms of high-grade heroin from a major drug trafficker. His ""favourite agent"" against a variety of ""hard targets"" was a fellow whose only demand was that his assignments be ""life threatening."" He survived them all. At times, the memoir reads like a travel book with tales of visits to little-known and rarely seen places like the Naga Hills on the India-Burma border, the world-famous but off limits jade and ruby mines of Burma, and the isolated Banda Islands of Indonesia, the home of nutmeg. The book is strengthened by many photos by the author. They include Marines in action in Vietnam, the ravages of war in Cambodia at war, and opium buyers forcing growers to sell in Burma. 50 colour and b/w photographs

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9781612008967

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Reviews

This is a marvelous memoir, at once insightful and entertaining-and poignant. Broman had an extraordinary secret life. --William Shawcross ...a fascinating autobiography by a man who served his country in the Far East as soldier and spy. In his detailed adventures Barry Broman, as a linguist and photographer, was a perceptive observer and sometimes participant in the recent events particularly in Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma. This excellent book thus gives the reader a first-hand narrative of the complexities of this area and helps in better understanding what is happening there today. --Martin Craven An enriching, illuminating and revealing book that is wonderfully written and helps all who read it to understand what went on behind the scenes of many global events especially in Southeast Asia. Broman's book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand global politics, journalism, espionage, war and most of all human relationships. His love of people, his honoring of others and openness to different points of view shines brightly throughout the book. --Major David Eubank (Ret), U.S. Army Special Forces The stories are filled with poignant details of his family life, encounters with foreign diplomats, generals, and princelings who had no clue of his true affiliation, and thrilling details of gunfights and drug deals in the jungles of Vietnam and Burma that are enough to make a great movie. At the same time, [Broman] gives the reader a flavor of the times and a sense of what went wrong and what went right during those difficult years in Southeast Asia. Most interestingly, through hints, innuendo, and cagey description, Broman tells us how an Agency case officer must split his normal with his clandestine life. --James Stejskal, former US Army Special Forces and CIA officer, author of 'Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the US Army's Elite, 1956-1990' At times, the memoir reads like a travel book with tales of visits to little-known and rarely seen places... -- Intelligencer [The book] takes the reader into an extraordinary twenty-five-year CIA venture that includes recruiting spies, conducting operations against drug traffickers, and staying one-step ahead of extreme danger. This is a must read. --Ronald Drez, Retired USMC Captain and award-winning author of Twenty-Five Yards of War: The Extraordinary Courage of Ordinary Men in World War II A fascinating read. -- SirReadaLot.org Broman's remarkable life story will have broad appeal for readers who relish circumspect spy chronicles and vivid tales of passionate exploration and interaction. -- Booklist ...offers stories of serious encounters accompanied by memorable ring of history. [The Author's] recollections introduce the reader to a cast of bigger than life characters: movie stars, royalty, presidents, international drug traffickers and correspondents, sufficient in number to satisfy the most ardent adventure seeker. --Hal Buell, former VP of the Associated Press As a veteran of a quarter of a century of traveling the world for the CIA in hot wars and during the height of the Cold War, Broman's true tales of putting his life on the line recruiting and running spies in a dozen countries are the stuff of action movies and popular espionage fiction ... Broman's detailed account of his months as a platoon commander in the 5th Marines in Vietnam is gripping to read, a worthy addition to the already extensive history of the war written by the American soldiers who fought it. --Peter Arnett, Pulitzer Prize Winner Broman proves that he is not just an accomplished photographer, but a thoroughly engaging writer. Over the course of his colorful career, he has managed to rub shoulders with some of the most interesting people that have passed through his posts---all of them unsuspecting as to the true nature of his employment. He has also engaged in The Great Game under some of the most trying circumstances in Southeast Asia, making for a fascinating read from start to finish. --Ken Conboy, author of The Cambodian Wars: Clashing Armies and CIA Covert Operations ...refreshingly gives the reader the all too rare, studied insight and subtle nuances of the myriad events and historical occurrences in which Broman was either a key player or on-site witness. --Col John C. McKay, USMC (Ret) A simply riveting read from beginning to end, Risk Taker, Spy Maker: Tales of a CIA Case Officer is the stuff from which blockbuster movies are made... -- Midwest Book Review

This is a marvellous memoir, at once insightful and entertaining-and poignant. [...] A fascinating life, wonderfully told. * William Shawcross, Author *

Broman's remarkable life story will have broad appeal for readers who relish circumspect spy chronicles and vivid tales of passionate exploration and interaction. --Peter Arnett, Pulitzer Prize Winner Booklist ...offers stories of serious encounters accompanied by memorable ring of history. [The Author's] recollections introduce the reader to a cast of bigger than life characters: movie stars, royalty, presidents, international drug traffickers and correspondents, sufficient in number to satisfy the most ardent adventure seeker. --Hal Buell, former VP of the Associated Press As a veteran of a quarter of a century of traveling the world for the CIA in hot wars and during the height of the Cold War, Broman's true tales of putting his life on the line recruiting and running spies in a dozen countries are the stuff of action movies and popular espionage fiction ... Broman's detailed account of his months as a platoon commander in the 5th Marines in Vietnam is gripping to read, a worthy addition to the already extensive history of the war written by the American soldiers who fought it. --Peter Arnett, Pulitzer Prize Winner Broman proves that he is not just an accomplished photographer, but a thoroughly engaging writer. Over the course of his colorful career, he has managed to rub shoulders with some of the most interesting people that have passed through his posts---all of them unsuspecting as to the true nature of his employment. He has also engaged in The Great Game under some of the most trying circumstances in Southeast Asia, making for a fascinating read from start to finish. --Ken Conboy, author of The Cambodian Wars: Clashing Armies and CIA Covert Operations ...refreshingly gives the reader the all too rare, studied insight and subtle nuances of the myriad events and historical occurrences in which Broman was either a key player or on-site witness. --Col John C. McKay, USMC (Ret)

Author Information

Barry Broman was a teenage photographer for the Associated Press in Southeast Asia, then a Marine Corps infantry officer in combat in Vietnam before spending a quarter century in Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency as a 'head-hunter' with dozens of recruits in operations around the world. Mr. Broman received a BA in Political Science in 1967 followed by an MA in Southeast Asian Studies a year later. A lifelong photographer and traveler he has published many articles and books.

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