In this "thoughtful, entertaining, and often insightful" book, a former CIA director explores the delicate give-and-take between the Oval Office and LangleyWith the disastrous intelligence failures of the last few years still fresh in Americans' minds -- and to all appearances still continuing -- there has never been a more urgent need for a book like this.In Burn Before Reading, Admiral Stansfield Turner, the CIA director under President Jimmy Carter, takes the reader inside the Beltway to examine the complicated, often strained relationships between presidents and their CIA chiefs. From FDR and "Wild Bill" Donovan to George W. Bush and George Tenet, twelve pairings are studied in these pages, and the results are eye-opening and provocative. Throughout, Turner offers a fascinating look into the machinery of intelligence gathering, revealing how personal and political issues often interfere with government busines -- and the nation's safety.

斯坦菲尔德•特纳，海军上将，自1977年至1987年担任美国中央情报总监，管理情报共同体与中情局。此前在海军服役时，特纳曾担任美国第二舰队的指挥官、美国海军战争学院院长、北大西洋公约组织南翼总司令。他还是马里兰大学研究生院公共政策系教员，目前居住在华盛顿。