The Determined Spy - by Douglas Waller (Hardcover)

About the Book

"An intimate and expertly-researched biography of Frank Wisner, the father of CIA Black Ops, telling the story of his exciting intelligence escapades as well as his lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder"--

Book Synopsis

From Douglas Waller, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Bill Donovan, an intimate and expertly researched biography of little-known early CIA leader Frank Wisner, whose behind-the-scenes influence on Cold War policy--and hundreds of highly secret anti-Soviet missions--resonates with the international crises we see today.

Frank Wisner was one of the most powerful men in 1950s Washington, though few knew it. Reporting directly to senior U.S. officials--his work largely hidden from Congress and the public-- Wisner masterminded some of the CIA's most daring and controversial operations in the early years of the Cold War, commanding thousands of clandestine agents around the world.

Following an early career marked by exciting escapades as a key World War II spy under General William "Wild Bill" Donovan, Wisner quickly rose through the postwar intelligence ranks to lead a newly created top-secret unit tasked--under little oversight--with overseeing massive propaganda, economic warfare, sabotage, subversion, and guerrilla operations all over the world, including such daring initiatives as the CIA-backed coups in Iran and Guatemala.

But simultaneously, Wisner faced a demon few at the time understood: bipolar disorder. When this debilitating disease resulted in his breakdown and transfer to a mental hospital, the repercussions were felt throughout Washington's highest levels of power.

Waller's sensitive and exhaustively researched biography is the riveting story of both Frank Wisner as a national figure who inspired a cadre of future CIA secret warriors, and also an intimate and empathetic portrait of a man whose harrowing struggle with bipolar disorder makes his impressive accomplishments on the world stage even more remarkable.

Review Quotes

"The biggest surprise in Waller's lively biography of Frank Wisner...is how stunningly naïve U.S. covert and martial operations have been at times. As Waller shows, Wisner's tenure provides one of the harsher lessons of the world of espionage: What appears to be a success at the time may not prove so over the long run." -- The New York Times

"Was the earlier, swashbuckling CIA a more successful enterprise than its present, decidedly less picturesque incarnation? In The Determined Spy Douglas Waller, a historian and journalist, investigates that question by chronicling, in considerable detail, the 'turbulent' life of Frank Gardiner Wisner." --Wall Street Journal

"Frank Wisner... is a slippery target for a biographer. Critics of the agency might describe him as a cold-blooded company man...Others might look to his later years, when he was consumed by bipolar disorder, and draw up grand theories about his mental condition and what it meant for American foreign policy writ large....In "The Determined Spy," Douglas Waller avoids both traps. Instead, he gives detailed and nuanced treatment to both Wisner's outsize role in the early CIA and his disease, leaving judgment to the reader." --Washington Post

"Waller offers us a picture of a postwar America that felt it had the power, and the right, to craft the rest of the world to its liking." --The Nation

"'The Determined Spy' is a serious book, a study of American covert power and its lasting effects on those who attempted to wield it, as well as on the world at large." --The Guardian

"During WWII, Frank Wisner worked for the OSS and stayed in the intelligence community as a founding member of the CIA, where he was the head of the clandestine service... Douglas Waller's sweeping biography offers rich historical context and a nuanced portrait of the man and the agency." --Arlington Magazine

"The most powerful people in Washington, D.C. are oftentimes not the ones you hear about. In this fascinating and deeply researched biography of the CIA bigwif Frank Wisner, Douglas Waller uncovers a trove of mid-century secrets that help explain the world we're living in today, and how a man who most people have never known about shaped it. Devour the book and then join us in daydreaming about casting the inevitable biopic." --Town & Country

"Douglas Waller's 'The Determined Spy' is not only an excellent history of the early CIA's covert action operations but also a human drama of a central figure in that history plagued by a crippling mental disorder... The comprehensive biography of Wisner and history of the OSS and early CIA covert action are woven into a compelling narrative, richly supported by Waller's exhaustive research and spiced with anecdotes from a wealth of sources."--Cipher Brief (Four Trench Coats)

"A sprawling and detailed biography of Frank Wisner, a CIA pioneer who played a pivotal role in shaping the United States' clandestine operations during the Cold War. The text's originality lies in its detailed portrayal of the rise and fall of Wisner's brilliant career plus his personal struggles with mental illness, providing a nuanced exploration of his contributions to espionage and psychological warfare... An excellent biographical history for anyone interested in Cold War history and the CIA's formative years and those who appreciate the complexities of espionage and its human cost." --Library Journal

"In this sweeping, immersive, and full-bodied study, journalist Waller, who authored a 2011, biography of OSS founder Wild Bill Donovan, turns to another central figure in American spycraft, Frank Wisner." --Booklist (Starred Review)

"In this fascinating and deeply researched biography of the CIA bigwif Frank Wisner, Douglas Waller uncovers a trove of mid-century secrets that help explain the world we're living in today, and how a man who most people have never known about shaped it." --Town & Country

"A revealing look at the early history of a spy agency with a decidedly checkered past." --Kirkus

"In The Determined Spy, Douglas Waller does an admirable job of piecing together long hidden and very forbidden secrets, among them development of the notorious MKUltra mind-bending drugs intended to create human robots. For more than a decade, during the coldest days of the spy war with Moscow, Frank Wisner ran the CIA's most secret department as deputy director of plans. For spy-readers, Waller's new book is a wonderful follow-on to his earlier book on the founder of the OSS, Wild Bill Donovan." --James Bamford, national bestselling author of The Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets, and SpyFail

"Secret agents, soaring ideals, coup plots and intelligence disasters -- all of it runs through Douglas Waller's remarkable biography of CIA pioneer Frank Wisner. This is a tale of a shadow warrior at the dawn of the Cold War who fervently fought for freedom then tragically succumbed to personal demons." --David E. Hoffman, national bestselling author of The Billion Dollar Spy

"Unknown to the public, Frank Wisner was one of the most powerful men in the world during the early days of the Cold War. He ran covert actions for the CIA when the spy agency was at the peak of its ambition. That Wisner ended up in a mental hospital and later died by suicide was a fascinating and profound tragedy. A thorough and fair-minded historian, Doug Waller reveals the whole story, in gripping detail, and he tells it brilliantly." --Evan Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Very Best Men and The Road to Surrender

"Thanks to an illustrious career of tracking the intelligence world, there are few who write about the CIA with as much authority as Douglas Waller and as much understanding of the human beings involved. In The Determined Spy, he deftly lays out the challenges, the compromises and the controversies of the CIA, but also the heavy personal cost to one of its early and most powerful leaders, Frank Wisner. With sensitivity but also admirable rigor, Waller reveals the story of a flawed man who fought the Cold War in the shadows with everything he had but was consumed by his own demons. A must for students of spying."--Sonia Purnell, author of Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue

About the Author

Douglas Waller is a former correspondent for Newsweek and Time, where he covered the CIA, Pentagon, State Department, White House, and Congress. He has authored seven books on the military and intelligence, including the New York Times bestseller Wild Bill Donovan. Waller lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Judy.