The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government

After reading the unassailable 'JFK and the Unspeakable' i was waiting for the next part of the puzzle on the JFK establishment assassination and David Talbot has provided this. James Douglass's v important book had already indicated Dulles to be the Mastermind. Talbot's book provides the detail and background and is absolutely riveting reading, not just for what it tells us about the origins of the Secret Government of the elite in the US, but why the world has been such a mess over the past decades. Also for what it says about the rise of the relationship between intell and the corporate world & how this threatens our freedoms (today exposed by Edward Snowden). At its heart, this book is about the face off over American democracy that took place between JFK and Allen Dulles (and initially also his brother Foster). The world today, and the problems of the 1% etc and US corporate domination culminating in the Koch brothers, the military industrial complex and 'citizens united' have their roots in the story Talbot gives us. The book begins with Dulle's appalling treachery in cutting deals with the Nazis during and after WW2 against the desire & policy of 'unconditional surrender' of FDR.. He then analyses the mad hell bent desire for Cold War domination by Dulles and his security / intell / corporate clique, including such 'hallowed' institutions such as the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Dean of Columbia (who was also Chairing Endowements etc that were really CIA funding fronts) plus the Rockefellers etc. He takes us through the series of appalling coups engineered by the CIA to topple democratically elected governments in Iran, Guatemala, Congo (the list goes on, interminably). Where-ever the CIA has gone in, chaos, un-ending war and terror has been the result, for innocent men, women and children. When one reads of the CIA bomb and death squads one appreciates how todays world could have been a peaceable place, had the FD Roosevelt / JFK view prevailed in supporting first 'unconditional surrender' of the Nazi's (rather than their reinstatement as orchestrated by Dulles who had one eye of the corporate profits of his old firm, Sullivan and Cromwell and their associates), and later freedom and self determination during the decolonisation process across the globe as envisaged by JFK. This book is a masterpiece of research, and is properly grounded in the literature and cross referenced material. It reads like a thriller and is deeply shocking. The book helped me to make sense of my own experience, because it brings together so much; eg. it contextualised for me Guatemala and Cuba and shows why Castro was determined not to suffer the same fate as Arbenz. It reinforces what i already knew of the vast sums of taxpayer money spent to finance 'fake narrative' literature, that make the CIA seem innocent, even positive. Douglas talks of the problem of 'plausible denial' which has made the CIA thoroughly undemocratic and un-accountable. This book cites many of the cloak and dagger operations and contextualises their human side. As such, I find the 'one star' reviews here to be childish depredations of trolls who probably wish they could still conveniently label everything a "conspiracy theory". "Conspiracy" JFK's establishment assassination & Warren Commission cover up certainly was, but it is rooted in FACT not theory. Talbots work amply provides the facts, yet will be ignored by the increasingly irrelevent corporate, mainstream media. Why? He keenly exposes their supine complicity over a range of important issues, from JFK to the CIA's appalling behaviour whenever they sowed violence, hatred and chaos abroad. However, i find this research to be a very impressive contribution to our knowledge. It provokes the question surely, of when the (now) 'infamous' name "Dulles" will be removed from Washington DC"s airport? Together with James Douglass's tremendous research on these issues, both books call into question the need for a proper reckoning about what JFK's state murder means for the state of "US Democracy?" And how the CIA has sown violence and chaos on behalf of the military industrial complex and corporates (and not as it falsely pretends "democracy") whereever it has acted abroad? David Talbot has more than adequately begun a conversation about what Douglass called 'the Unspeakable' pact of silence in the corporate media and US public life about JFK's assassination. Let this conversation go on and for this to be the beginning of a period of accounting for the gross violations of the USA's dreadful domestic crime of November 1963, as well as its shameful history abroad during the past 60 yrs. Reviewed by:Lucy Morgan Edwards; Author of 'The Afghan Solution: the inside story of Abdul Haq, the CIA and how western hubris lost Afghanistan' (2011)

An account of the life of Allen Dulles from wartime through the 60s. Insights on how battling the Nazi regime from the shadows of the OSS quickly pivoted to battling the Soviet empire, even before the Naxos had surrendered. Nazis who should have been tried at Nuremberg were instead hidden away in Switzerland or even brought to the U.S. and deployed against the new enemy.Post war, Allen Dulles built and led the CIA, while his brother John Foster Dulles led the state department under Eisenhower. In lockstep, they used nefarious means to try to achieve ends portrayed as absolute priorities to better the communist threat, at the expense of democratic principles and moral considerations. Often the beneficiaries of policies and moves were the wealthy industrialists and robber barons with exploitative industries that depended upon the continuation of dictators and repressive regimes.The new democratic government of Guatemala was overthrown and its president beaten to death (protecting cobalt mining interests). The dictatorial Shah of Iran was reinstated (reversing nationalization of oil interests). An attempt was made on De Gaulle as president of France, who was perceived as too leftist. Democracies in Latin America who flirted with partnership with liberal elements were subjected to propaganda that vilified them as communists, and the same propaganda was directed at liberal elements at home.In the second half of the book, after JFK was elected president, we see Dulles and the CIA maneuver Kennedy into the Bay of Pigs, with a blatant misrepresentation of the chances of success, assuming he would be forced to follow through on committing US forces - Kennedy’s refusal set up a bitter conflict between hard liners and the administration. Even after Dulles was forced out, he continued as a shadow to run the CIA in all but name.The Cuban missile crisis was the final straw for the hardliners, some of whom even favored a nuclear showdown with Kruschev.There follows a great deal of evidence presented that the CIA, with Dulles in the shadows, masterminded the JFK assassination, and later when RFK ran for president and won the California primary, his assassination too!The tradition of single issue goals (opposing communism, terrorism) with hidden wealthy beneficiaries, driving means that go far beyond legal and moral boundaries, seems to have been brought forward into subsequent Republican administrations all the way to the modern era.A compelling and thought-provoking read, for anyone wondering how power, politics, and wealth really works.I write this as a proposal has been made to rename Washington Dulles airport after Trump; while I can’t see that as anything other than a travesty, at the same time, leaving the tarnished Dulles name seems equally inappropriate!

For someone that didn’t study much US history after 1945 ( it was judged more current events) this was any eye opening read about the dark underbelly of Pax Americana. Allen Dulles saw the world in a surprisingly binary way: if it helped neutralize Soviet expansion or influence, leverage it, no matter how unsavory the provenance.While this book is clearly well researched and documented (although the Kindle edition is underwhelming in helping one easily flick back and forth between the text and the cited source), the author writes more like a muckraking journalist, dangling suppositions or perceived truths, to amp up an already pretty juicy story. This is particularly apparent (and, at least to me, irritating) in the latter third of the book where he addresses the Kennedy assasinations. While he doesn’t offer definitive conclusions, the author certainly stokes conspiracy fires.This is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in how the US maneuvered - at least sub Rosa- to retain its global dominance and build the post war bulwark against the perceived, but somewhat operatic ally over amplified, Soviet threat. And it’s a chilling reminder that the US policymakers motives and actions are often far less pure than we would like to admit.

Good read. Another book describing how the CIA killed JFK.References and details in great narrative form. Great story telling.

The evil of the Dulles brothers has to be read about to be believe. Great account of their evil and their controls.

deep & comprehensive research ...maybe a little more than u expected.....not casual reading.... recommended for the serious....history revealed...the dark side. my era, so i appreciated the book.. recommended for those with their eyes open...Peter,... 80 yrs. on the planet

A good read, that keeps moving and while it is heavy on detail, its not a heavy read. Offering plenty of new information, regarding JFKs assassination and the darker side of the CIA.

Avec un souci du détail et une rigueur extrême, l’auteur nous expose la naissance et quelques éléments de l’action de la CIA pendant la Guerre Froide, à travers la vie de son créateur, Allen Dulles. C’est, de plus, le livre le plus convaincant que j’aie lu sur l’assassinat de Kennedy et la fabrication du conspirationisme. Je recommande vivement ce livre.

Seems super convincing to me, and I have spent my life avoiding conspiracy theorists. Unlike many of the 'Mafia' killed both Kennedy's (J and R) books', in this one,the time lines seem meticulously researched and pan out convincingly. Conspiracy Theories? In my own life - I knew Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Charles Manson - and I happened also to have apparently been recruited by both MI6 and the KGB - and so have spent many years disentangling the risable from the real. (I recount some of that in ' Sometime Music Is My Only Friend '- by Harry Buckle - Amazon ) That, obviously a very different style of book to David Talbots excellent and very detailed re-investigation of the mysterious and murky that lurk together in the clandestine worlds of necessary - or imagined - national security. Mixes naked ambition with real or alleged 'Defence of the Realm'- in this case mainly ' Taking Care of Uncle Sam' and the potential for abuse by those responsible for same. Thrilling read also--great style. Read it and consider the need for a strong and independent security service- especially when the next POTUS is seemingly- a tad IMPOTUOUS. Diplomacy is usually key to the avoidance of armed conflict- on the other hand pontificating prevaricating politicians tend to stumble from crisis to crisis, so maybe some plain speaking is in order. Whatever? Read this book.It will sow seeds of knowledge and concern for the decade or two.

Eigenlijk een ontluisterende inhoud voor iedereen die toch echt geloofd in democratie, dat wil zeggen dat de overheid transparant is naar haar doelstellingen, acties en beweegredenen. Dat op de achtergrond de CIA de politici kan manipuleren is opzich wel voorstelbaar maar in een democratie als die in de US onacceptabel.