Overview

The untold story of how America's brightest academic minds revolutionized intelligence analysis at the CIA In the early days of the Cold War, the United States faced a crisis in intelligence analysis. A series of intelligence failures in 1949 and 1950, including the failure to warn about the North Korean invasion of South Korea, made it clear that gut instinct and traditional practices were no longer sufficient for intelligence analysis in the nuclear age. The new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Walter Bedell Smith, had a mandate to reform it. Based on new archival research in declassified documents and the participants' personal papers, The Intelligence Intellectuals reveals the neglected history of how America's brightest academic minds were recruited by the CIA to revolutionize intelligence analysis during this critical period. Peter C. Grace describes how the scientifically sound analysis methods that they introduced significantly helped the United States gain an advantage in the Cold War, and these new analysts legitimized the role of the recently created CIA in the national security community. Grace demonstrates how these professors―such as William Langer from Harvard, Sherman Kent from Yale, and Max Millikan from MIT―developed systematic approaches to intelligence analysis that shaped the CIA's methodology for decades to come. This insightful history about the place of social science in national security is a must-listen.

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Reviews

""The young CIA did more than stage coups―it helped American leaders understand the real Soviet threat. Peter Grace and The Intelligence Intellectuals show how the new agency combined academic brains and military skill to make US intelligence a reliable compass for navigating the Cold War.."" -- ""Michael Warner, US Department of Defense"" ""This is both a fascinating history of the people and purposes that shaped the US approach to peacetime strategic intelligence analysis after 1945 and a reminder of the importance of a sound methodology and high integrity to make it work effectively."" -- ""Lawrence Freedman, professor emeritus of war studies, King's College London""

Author Information

Peter C. Grace is a lecturer on politics and international relations at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He is one of the volume editors of New Zealand's Foreign Policy under the Jacinda Ardern Government. After thirty-two years serving in the Intelligence Community using his voice for different purposes, Bob Johnson decided to continue that passion narrating audiobooks, still bringing stories to life and as different characters. While he still enjoys a good spy thriller, he is equally thrilled to narrate mysteries, true crime, romance and, of course, nonfiction. When he's not in his home studio in Reston, Virginia, you can normally find Bob either behind the mic announcing Maryland sports or in the stands cheering on the Terps.

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