WAR OF WITS - The Anatomy of Espionage and Intelligence by Farago, Ladislas

New York, 1954, Funk & Wagnalls, first US edition, hard bound in dust jacket, 6 x 8 1/2, VG/VG- ( dj is very slightly chipped edges ), ix, 379 pages, illus, notes, ibliog, index.---------------------------------------------One central aspect of the contemporary struggle for the future of the world is the war of wits—the strategy of nation against nation to obtain vital information, hamper hostile preparations, and mold the opinions and feel- ings of citizens at home and abroad. In this book, Ladislas Farago gives the reader a complete panorama of a subject which is of vital importance. More than twenty years of firsthand experience lie behind its writing, and the author's deep conviction that the struggle he analyzes should be familiar to every informed person gives his pages an engrossing urgency.The basic purpose of this book is to acquaint citizens with the over-all picture of intelligence and its allied subjects—counter-intelligence, espionage, sabotage, and propaganda. In developing his account of each phase of this pattern, the author illustrates his points with incidents taken from actual intelligence operations, contemporary and historical, ranging from the Bible to the slow but sure ferreting out and tracking down of the atom spy ring in the United States. Here is the story of the brilliant work of Naval Intelligence which resulted in the shooting down of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in the Pacific in 1943 and numerous espionage coups of both world wars.-------------------------------------------------------Mr. Farago explains the necessity for a Central Intelligence Agency, how the CIA operates, and how the FBI counters the efforts of foreign agencies to penetrate our national secrets. He gives the reader an informed appraisal of the intelligence apparatus of the major world powers, with special attention to the Communist system, and the extent to which foreign intelligence networks cover the world today. He includes useful information and recommendations for entering the intelligence field as a vocation......................................................Illustrating his contention by the entire scope of his book, Mr. Farago suggests that intelligence has a vital modern role to play in the resolution of international differences and intentions without the ultimate resort to war. His book is thus both optimistic and challenging. As the first book of its kind written for the general reader, it makes valuable and exciting reading.