The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Format is approximately 6.25 inches by 9.5 inches. viii, 536 pages. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Burton Hersh is an American author, journalist and commentator. Hersh is the author of Edward Kennedy-An Intimate Biography (Counterpoint, 2010). His Bobby and J. Edgar : the historic face-off between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover that transformed America (Carroll and Graff, 2007) is, according to Worldcat held in 811 libraries. He is also the author of The Shadow President: Ted Kennedy in Opposition (Steerforth 1997), The Old Boys:The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA (Scribner, 1992), The Mellon Family: A Fortune In History (Morrow 1978, Book of the Month Club selection, Fortune Brook Club selection), The Education of Edward Kennedy (Morrow, 1972) His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Esquire, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Huffington Post. Derived from a Kirkus review: A chronicle that details how a group of Ivy- educated Wall Street attorneys and their associates--the ``Old Boy network''--created the Central Intelligence Agency and influenced the formative decades of the Cold War. Hersh conducted more than 100 interviews and researched archives and declassified documents. His narrative runs from the 1919 Versailles conference, where the Dulles brothers observed uncle Robert Lansing, Woodrow Wilson's secretary of state, to the Bay of Pigs operation and the retirement years of its principals. Six men are the focus here: John Foster Dulles and his younger brother Allen; legendary OSS chief ``Wild Bill'' Donovan; Frank Wisner, ultimately CIA operations chief; diplomat William C. Bullitt; and Carmel Offie, the assistant to Bullitt and Wisner. Hersh sheds light on the frantic wartime operations of Allen Dulles and Wisner in Europe, as well as on how the Americans benefited from the Soviet files of ex-Nazi intelligence chief Gehlen.