THE GREAT GAME

A slender but rich—and quite entertaining—introduction to the shadowy world of spy vs. spy.

The characters who populate spy fiction, writes retired CIA inspector general Hitz (Project on International Intelligence/Princeton Univ.), have nothing on their real-life counterparts: “They are not nearly as complex in character or bizarre in behavior as the real thing.” Moreover, much of what made the likes of Bond a superspy to be reckoned with was mere gadgetry, meant “to amaze and overwhelm the viewing audience rather than get reports home more quickly and safely.” And who populates the real world of espionage? Some truly weird folk, by Hitz’s account, wedded to exaggerated notions of their importance to world affairs, prey to various perversities, ever ready to sell out their country, in some cases, for a nice sexual dalliance with a Soviet femme fatale or a bottle of whiskey (“the mother’s milk of spy recruitments”). Given this—and given well-publicized betrayals on the parts of Aldrich Ames, Kim Philby, and Robert P. Hanssen, among others—it’s amazing that any spying actually gets done. But it does, and Hitz has kind words for the many operatives who do their work without becoming turncoats, alcoholics, incompetents, or raving narcissists. Yet he also turns up some astonishing tales of woe, among them one that alone is worth the price of the book: a bureaucratic betrayal of Kurdish operatives who rose up against Saddam Hussein in 1994, under Clinton’s watch, and who were forgotten for their troubles. “This is not how a reputation is forged in the spy business for looking after your own,” Hitz wryly notes.

Why spies don’t make good assassins, why American intelligence needs to borrow a page from the Great Game heroes of the 19th-century British Empire, why things go wrong: it’s all here. A perfect companion for fans of John le Carré.