Book of Week: Inside the CIA By Ronald Kessler
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Inside the CIA: Revealing the Secrets of the World’s Most Powerful Spy Agency by Ronald Kessler is a non-fiction book about the CIA. This is an interesting book to learn about the organization of the CIA and its history up to about 1990. The book is kind of out of date, though, having been published in 1992. The most obvious out of date aspect is its continuous referring to the Soviet Union as still existing, which in case you do not know it no longer exist.
The book is organized pretty much as a chronological history of the CIA and as it tells the history it reveals the way the CIA works. It does not really touch on the undercover stuff at all and rather focuses on what the CIA spends most of its time doing, such as the organizing of intelligence and reporting to the President the important stuff they have weeded out from the not so important.
Overall this book is hard to get into at first and I did not find the writing style all that appealing, but near the middle I did kind of get interested and the second half was faster reading. The main reasons I found it kind of hard to read are that it is so out of date in its tone and the chronological sequence gets confusing at times.
Basic Information About this Book:
ISBN #: 0-671-73458-X
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year of Publication: 1992
Number of Pages: 335
If you have a suggestion of a D.C. related book that you would like to see featured in a future Book of the Week post, then please either comment on this post or e-mail me at kjersti.wasiak@451press.net
is a colorful photo book that shows some of the key artifacts that the Smithsonian contains. Most of the artifacts are from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Since this museum is currently closed this book makes a good alternative to see the artifacts. It is also good for those that cannot visit the museum even when it is open again. Lastly, it is also a fun souvenir for those that have visited this museum. Reading the little paragraphs about the artifacts is also a good way to get a brief overview/refresher about American History and is much easier to read than trying to read the museum signs when the museum is crowded.
by Mary Quattlebaum is a fun picture book for young kids. This book is told through the voice of a young girl and is her version of her experience riding on the Metro to visit her Grandma in Cleveland Park. Overall this is great telling of the Metro journey as a kid may see it, however I have one small issue with the book. It never shows her transferring trains. Sure, you can say she got on the red line and never needed to transfer thus it does not show it, however, the fact early in the book it mentions passing the Waterfront stop proves she has to be on the Green Line and at one point would have had to transfer to get to the red line and to Cleveland Park, which is obviously shown as her destination. Anyways that is just me wanting accuracy and thinking that transferring trains would be one of those moments a little kid would remember trying not to get separated from her mom as they transfer. Overall the book is well written and has some great analogies such as the doors being called silver drapes. The illustrations are also fun, especially with the girl daydreaming about what is going on in D.C. above as they travel below it on the Metro.
by Zachary M. Schrag is an interesting read about the history and politics that went into making the Metro, which many Washingtonians use regularly. It can be a dry read if you have never ridden the Metro or do not ride it often, but for those that ride it regularly you are likely to find it interesting as I did. It gives a whole different appreciation for the system, but it also does not fail to mention its problems that it has. The parts I found most interesting were at the beginning when it talks about all the planning and politics involved in just getting the funding and agreeing on the routes before any construction even started. It is also interesting how it goes beyond just describing the construction of the Metro, but how the Metro related to redevelopment of areas of the city and the new development around stations farther out. The book is overall a great read, especially as a book to read as you commute on the Metro, however I really do not think it is the kind of book everyone will enjoy. You really have to be someone who is already familiar with the Metro and uses it daily, but does not know much of the history of the system to enjoy this book.
by Michele Mitchell is a good book mostly based with the main character, Kate Boothe, working as a political consultant in D.C. The book is about her taking on the case of changing the public opinion against Lyle Gould, who is being accused of being a traitor selling secrets to the Chinese. He is innocent and Kate tries to not just help clear his name, but discover who really was the traitor. It is an overall interesting book, but the plot does sometimes move slow. There is also a sequel to this book called 
. I read this book years ago and did not even realize their was a book that came before it. Nor did I realize I was reading a book in the same series as Our Girl in Washington until I began reading the book and the characters seemed familiar. I remember enjoying Our Girl in Washington more than this book, but I also remember the characters being a little confusing and I now realize that is because it is a sequel to The Latest Bombshell. Basically I recommend both The Latest Bombshell and Our Girl in Washington and reading them in order. If you at least somewhat enjoy The Latest Bombshell than I think you will even further enjoy Our Girl in Washington because it seems that the plot moves a little faster by not getting bogged down in creating the characters.
is a descriptive look at the first season that the Nationals played in D.C. It seems an appropriate read to look back at their pretty recent Inaugural Season as they play their Inaugural Season at their New Ballpark. It is a good read whether you closely followed the season or not, however, if you are not a big baseball fan then you probably will not find it interesting. Basically the bulk of the book is describing all the games in short highlight by highlight paragraphs organized into short chapters of never more than about 8 pages. The book follows the events starting with the downfall of the Montreal Expos and the team being moved to D.C. to become the Nationals. This beginning part was the most interesting to me because I had not know much about the negotiations around the move. It then goes into describing the season, which I enjoyed reading and remembering back on that first season.
is a guidebook to 23 gardens in D.C. and within a reasonable drive from D.C. This book is a little bulky for carrying around as you visit the gardens, but it is a really good resource for those that like visiting gardens. It gives great in depth descriptions of the gardens including highlights of the gardens, off the beaten path for each garden, and visitor information. The Off the Beaten path sections were my favorite parts, as it even pointed out some places I had missed when I visited some of the garden described. The visitor information section is also very in depth with websites for the gardens when applicable and directions to get to the gardens including how to get there via public transportation when possible.
by Sarah Vowell is part history part travel narrative. The book is not exactly focused on D.C., but rather on the author traveling to sites related to the assassinations of three U.S. presidents. As part of this narrative it is only natural that D.C. ends up being mentioned several times. This book is an interesting history about the assassinations, although it sometimes goes off on tangents that can get confusing.
by Laura Krauss Melmed shows different things to see in D.C. and presents them in alphabetical order. Each letter except X and Y are given a page or two with a 4 line poem on the item selected to be identified by the letter and an illustration about the item. Some things in the book include the Jefferson Memorial for J, the National Air and Space Museum for A, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for V. Throughout the illustrations are colorful representations of the different things chosen to represent the different letters of the alphabet. Many of the things are places to visit in D.C. and thus it is fun not just as a way of showing kids things they may see on an upcoming visit to the Capital, but this book is also as a good way of looking back on a previous visit or visits to the Capital. Perhaps even their favorite D.C. attraction is featured in the book.
is like a handbook on what you see taking place in the House of Representatives and Senate if you watch sessions on CSPAN or in person in the galleries. The book has an introduction section that explains the basic stage and players that you see at the front of the chambers. The book then has a section that is a dictionary on key terms relating to Congressional business such as key positions and jargon related to bills. There is also a chapter explaining some of the frequently heard phrases that may not make sense to a casual viewer. Other chapters explain the Legislative Day (may not be an accurate outline as this was written over a decade ago), the steps to how a bill becomes a law, how you can get involved in legislation, and useful websites. The appendix is also useful in that it lists the different committees and sub-committees and what they do (this may also be a little out of date).
