Top Picks From A CIA Case Officer’s Bookshelf
One of the most common requests we receive is for a reading list on intelligence, special operations, and national security. While this is a little outside our scope of Watches of Espionage, we are encouraged by this question because it demonstrates a desire to learn more about impactful topics within our community. With that in mind, I took a hard look at my library and queried other friends on their favorite books on intelligence and SpecOps to create an incomplete but workable list.
There are a lot of great books out there on these subjects. For brevity’s sake, we elected to make this a series, with the first installment focused on books covering the Global War On Terror that raged for 20 years in the aftermath of the attacks on September 11th, 2001. We encourage you to add your favorite reads to the comments.
CIA’s Team Alpha Prior to Insertion into Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11.
While the purpose of this platform isn’t to inspire the next generation of public servants, we are quickly learning this is a byproduct of W.O.E., which is great. So whether you are a student interested in a career at CIA or a washed-up dad wanting to relive the glory days, here are some great books to keep you entertained, informed, and educated.
*We have added affiliate Amazon links for each book if you want to purchase directly from Amazon and support the site. If not, that's cool too.
The Global War On Terror (GWOT) In Books
Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man, Dalton Fury
In Kill Bin Laden, retired US Army Major Thomas Greer, whose action movie-style pen name is Dalton Fury, describes his firsthand experiences as a senior Delta Force officer during the hunt for Osama Bin Laden including a riveting eyewitness account of the Battle Of Tora Bora in 2001. Of note, he also has some great fiction reads similar to Jack Carr.
The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth, Mark Mazzetti
While we’re typically hard on reporters, Mark Mazzetti, a Pulitzer Prize winner, provides an excellent multi-faceted look at modern warfare by sharing the stories of intelligence officers, special operators, and CIA assets including at least one socialite. There is some great detail in this book that would never pass the CIA’s Publication Review Board.
Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror, Robert Young Pelton
A closer look at the world of private military contractors (PMC), Licensed to Kill details CIA’s “Dirty Wars”, contractor training, and some of the most prominent successes and failures of private military contractors, often operating without oversight or repercussions when they cross the line. If you want to learn more about the Blackwater Breitling, this is a good place to start and about as unbiased as it gets on this controversial topic.
Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander, Gary Berntsen & Ralph Pezzullo
This time coming from the Agency’s perspective, Jawbreaker is career CIA Case Officer Gary Berntsten’s first-hand experience coordinating the CIA's fight against the Taliban while searching for Usama bin Laden in the war’s early years.
First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan, Gary Schroen
Gary Schroen was a legendary CIA Case Officer who led the initial Northern Alliance Liaison Team—codenamed “Jawbreaker”—into Afghanistan, in late 2001. First In is his account of some of the first boots on the ground belonging to a team of CIA Officers tasked with linking up with the Northern Alliance in the Panjshir Valley. We profiled Schroen and his Rolex Submariner in a previous Dispatch, read HERE.
First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11, Toby Harnden
One of the best-researched accounts of the first phase of the war in the aftermath of 9/11, Toby Harnden’s book, First Casualty, should be required reading for anyone looking for a 10,000-foot overview of the CIA and US Army Special Forces’ efforts in Afghanistan in the Fall of 2001. Of note, Harnden also wrote a Dispatch on Israeli Spy Eli Cohen’s Eterna-Matic Centenaire Recovered by Mossad, read HERE.
The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA, Joby Warrick
Coming from another Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Joby Warrick’s The Triple Agent is the harrowing narrative of Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double agent who claimed the lives of seven CIA Case Officers and Paramilitary Officers at a secret outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. This was required reading for several courses at CIA and an important study of counterintelligence in counterterrorism operations.
Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Ground Soldier's Fifty-Year Career Hunting America's Enemies, Billy Waugh & Tim Keown
A legend among SpecOps and the Agency, Billy Waugh fought in Vietnam with US Army Special Forces and worked as a contractor for CIA in Khartoum, Sudan in the early 90s keeping tabs on a certain bad actor named Usama bin Laden. When the GWOT kicked off, Waugh, who was then 71, deployed to Afghanistan to continue his lifelong service to our country.
Waugh is also a W.O.E. Dispatch profile alum, having worn some of history’s great tool watches throughout his adventure-filled life including a Rolex GMT-Master, Seiko 6409, and numerous Digital Tool Watches (D.T.W.) throughout his career. Click HERE to read more.
Where many of the books we’ve mentioned thus far cover the events immediately following 9/11, Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars concentrates on the intelligence efforts before September 11th including CIA’s clandestine efforts to subvert Soviet action in Afghanistan in the 1980s. I read and reread this book every time I went to Afghanistan, and it is one of the most comprehensive histories of the US Government's involvement in the region.
Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Steve Coll
Another Steve Coll piece, Directorate S covers the intelligence challenges faced by CIA in Afghanistan caused by Pakistani ISI’s "Directorate S", a highly secretive wing of the country’s intelligence service charged with arming, training, and attempting to legitimize the Taliban’s role in the region. This is a great follow-on reading to Ghost Wars.
Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins, Annie Jacobsen
Another text looking at CIA’s Paramilitary operations, Surprise, Kill, Vanish provides a high-level overview of the history of CIA's Special Activities Division (SAD / SAC) interwoven with firsthand accounts of the secretive unit’s actions during the Cold War and the GWOT.
I will note, while this is a good read with lots of great information, several sections are over-Hollywoodized and not as accurate as they appear.
13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi, Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team
13 Hours is a detailed account of the events of September 11th, 2012, when a six-man team of GRS security contractors working for the US Government defended a CIA annex and a State Department Special Mission Compound from armed militants in Benghazi, Libya.
Also having been made into a feature film of the same name starring the dreamy John Krasinski, 13 Hours also offers some premium Rolex Submariner content on the wrist of Ty "Rone" Woods, a CIA Global Response Staff contractor played by James Badge Dale.
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, Lawrence Wright
Another prequel to the events of 9/11 and the GWOT to follow, The Looming Tower is a Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative describing Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri’s ascent to the heights of global terrorism as well as the FBI’s efforts to track and understand the emerging threat presented by al-Qaeda in the 1990s. This is the best read on helping understand the events that led to the attacks on September 11th and an easy read.
Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War, Marty Skovlund Jr. & Joe Kent
Authored by our good friend Marty Skovlund Jr. and former CIA Joe Kent, the subject’s widower, Send Me is the incredible story of Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, a trailblazing female special operator, gifted linguist, and mother of two who served with Naval Special Warfare and CIA during the Global War On Terror, ultimately losing her life in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.
Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command, Sean Naylor
Relentless Strike is one of the best overviews of Joint Special Operations Command or JSOC, the parent organization that serves as operational control for Delta Force, the 75th Ranger Regiment, SEAL Team Six, and other secretive intelligence and aviation assets. From its humble beginnings in the 80s to its exponentially larger role in the GWOT, JSOC became one of the United States’ most impactful weapons in the fight against terrorism. There is some great CIA content also in this book that is scarily accurate.
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, Sean Naylor
An in-depth account of Operation Anaconda, Not a Good Day to Die is intelligence and counterterrorism reporter Sean Naylor’s beautifully researched description of one of the United States’ bloodiest battles in the Global War On Terror. This work details the early actions of SOF, JSOC, and CIA in the early days of the conflict in Afghanistan.
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden, Mark Owen & Kevin Maurer
Where 9/11 is the event that caused the GWOT, the killing of Usama Bin Laden in 2011 is perhaps the second-most crucial event marking the culmination of an unprecedented intelligence effort by CIA and a harrowing raid by SEAL Team Six, which is described in detail in No Easy Day by Mark Owen, a veteran SEAL operator who was on the mission. While we generally roll our eyes at SEAL books, this is an incredible insight into SEAL Team Six and a first-hand account of this historic operation.
See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War Against Terrorism, Robert Baer
Another account from a CIA Officer serving before and in the opening phases of the GWOT, See No Evil is an incendiary look at what the author sees as the Agency’s intelligence failures as well as a description of the roots of modern terrorism.
Bob Baer is a controversial figure at CIA and many say his reputation is less than stellar. That said, this book inspired an entire generation of CIA officers, coming out shortly after September 11th.
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan, Doug Stanton
One of the GWOT’s most iconic images is that of US Army Special Forces riding horses into battle in Afghanistan shortly after September 11th. Horse Soldiers tells the story of how these American special operators blended old-school cavalry tactics with modern warfare to fight the earliest battles of the early GWOT. This book sets a good foundation for our follow-on piece by former senior CIA Case Officer J.R. Seeger writes about the role his watches played in the early days of the conflict in Afghanistan (read HERE).
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, David Kilcullen
Providing a global perspective on the Global War On Terror, David Kilcullen’s The Accidental Gorilla contextualizes the importance of smaller conflicts and intelligence operations in Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, the Horn of Africa, and East Timor and their role in the more prominent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The More You Know
Beyond their entertainment value, these books provide detailed history and incredible firsthand accounts of how modern warfare, special operations, and intelligence collection unfolded over 20 years of war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the globe. Setting politics aside, the GWOT presents myriad cases of true heroism displayed by regular soldiers, intelligence officers, and SpecOps personnel at all levels of the war. There are, of course, numerous other books detailing the events of the Global War On Terror including thousands written by Navy SEALs, but this list is a great place to start. As they say, the more you know...
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Read Next: Israeli Spy Eli Cohen’s Eterna-Matic Centenaire Recovered by Mossad
12 comments
“A closer look at the world of primate military contractors (PMC)…”
Gotta love this typo.
Please make this a series! Excellent recommendations!
I would be happy to send you a signed copy of my book, “GUARDIAN – Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA’s War on Terror”. This book chronicles the origin story of the GRS as well as the only officially sanctioned information about the Counterterrorism Unit that Billy Waugh wrote about in his book, “Hunting the Jackal”. I actually deployed with Billy in Khartoum, Sudan.
The Looming Tower was required reading by my doctorate advisor and I had to the opportunity to speak with Lawrence when he visited our program. His perspective on the GWOT and counter-terrorism was formative for me and I continue to draw upon it in my work. Highly recommend The Looming Tower for younger readers who may not be as familiar with the events and context leading up to 2001.
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers”- Harry S Truman.
Thanks for compiling and sharing this book list.