No Cloak, No Dagger bookcover

No Cloak, No Dagger

A Professor's Secret Life Inside the CIA
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Description

An inside look at the double life of a university professor turned CIA intelligence officer.

No Cloak, No Dagger gives an inside look at the double life of Lester Paldy, a university professor who was recruited by the CIA and brought into the secret world of espionage.

Product Details

PublisherRowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publish DateMarch 19, 2024
Pages300
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9781538182147
Dimensions8.9 X 6.1 X 0.9 inches | 1.2 pounds

About the Author

Lester Paldy enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, rising to the rank of Captain. He joined the faculty at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1967, where he rose to the rank of Distinguished Service Professor. After serving as a CIA Scholar in Residence, the CIA invited him to join the Agency as a part-time intelligence officer. He held this position, along with his position as professor at SUNY for more than twenty years. Paldy is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is active in the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.

Reviews

[This] is a unique book from an insider-outsider, filled with sagacious observations and altogether more interesting than it first appears. It enhances the already well-populated genre of CIA memoirs.


As an FBI detailee, I found the CIA culture very different from the FBI's. No one did more to facilitate trust between the FBI and CIA than Les Paldy. Through his brilliance, kindness, and authenticity, he made a seismic difference. Les is the real deal, and this book is an amazing peek into his extraordinary life and career.


Les served for many years as a teacher, mentor, traveling companion, and sounding board for myself and countless others in CIA's Russia House. His knowledge and boundless enthusiasm made us smarter and more effective in countering Russia's efforts.


Les Paldy contributed to our national security for well over 24 years by going to places where US intelligence officers were forbidden to go to identify the vulnerabilities of some of our foreign adversaries' top weapons scientists. He worked with my team to sensitize our officers and FBI special agents to ways to approach foreign scientists for recruitment as clandestine sources. This was a crucial skill that heretofore had been missing in intelligence community training.


Les Paldy is one of a kind. His scientific and academic credentials gave him entrée to America's most intractable enemies. His intellectual prowess and ability to engage foreign scientists provided CIA with eyes and ears in places others could not reach. His bravery and enthusiasm in planning and undertaking dangerous and difficult missions produced stunning results.


This captivating memoir follows a professor's journey from lecture hall deep into the hidden passages of espionage. Les Paldy's eloquent prose and insider's perspective pulls you into his covert life of camaraderie, intrigue, and courage. If you are an espionage fan, No Cloak, No Dagger opens a door into an undisclosed side of the business!

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