Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Espionage and Intelligence. Edited by Debra A. Miller Greenhaven Press Thomson Gale, 2007. 1 vol. 234 p. $36.20. ISBN 10: 0-7377-3719-0; 13: 978-0-7377-3710-6.

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), now the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was formed to correct the flaws in our system resulting in the lack of knowledge before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Originally a system belonging to the military, it was transformed into a civilian agency by the National Security Act of 1947. The Secretary of Defense, a cabinet position, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff provide military advice to the President. The debate in Chapter 1 provides both sides of "Has the U.S. Espionage and Intelligence-Gathering System Been Successful?" Students who wish to discuss "Will Post 9/11 Reforms of the U.S. Intelligence Systems Be Effective" have both sides of this issue. Perhaps a more personal issue is in Chapter 3, "Do Intelligence-Gathering Activities Threaten Civil or Human Rights?" Here we read the controversy of torture and imprisonment without trial. For those who wish to consider solutions, "What Can Be Done to Improve U.S. Intelligence-Gathering Abilities?" may help them see the challenges facing their thinking.