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Few people spent as much time in American government studying, and undermining, the Soviet Union as Robert Gates. He got a master’s from Indiana University and was recruited into the CIA in 1966. After a short stint in the Strategic Command in the Air Force (explaining geopolitics to bored missile attendants he says) he spent most of the next 25 years alternating between the CIA and the National Security Council in the White House, always focused on the then omnipresent Soviet threat. He ended up as the first career officer to become Director of the CIA, from 1991 to 1993.

The book is at its best when Gates describes the personalities and internal politics that shaped so much of US policy. He worked for a few years with Stansfield Turner, the admiral Carter choose to come into the CIA’s house and clean up after the Church Committee revelations, and who was near universally reviled at the agency. HE also worked with William Casey, the hard-charging former OSS member and Wall Street mogul who tried to run the agency as his own personal shop, angering much of the personnel in the process, at least when he didn’t evade them to carry out plans like Iran-Contra. Gates is unfailing fair to these individuals, explaining what they were trying to accomplish and understanding the real bureaucratic roadblocks the agency put up. He is equally fascinated by people like James Jesus Angelton, the paranoid spy hunter who he found alone in a darkened room with a single desk lamp and a cigarette fretting over papers.

When it comes to personalities and politics, Gates excels, yet sometimes the book reads like the many reports he mentions writing and receiving for decades in the government. Intros and conclusions elaborate the points already made ad nausem in the body of the chapters, and a lot of generalizations would have benefited from details filled out. But on the whole there’s no better book on there for learning about the sempiternal division between the Directorate of Intelligence (analysis, Gate’s shop) and the Directorate of Operations (the hard-core spy shop, where most of the leadership comes from), for understanding how a difficult National Security Advisor like Bud McFarlane can make it hard for the President to get unbiased intelligence, or how a few pieces of intelligence and coming out of the CIA can rip apart friendships, Cabinets, and nations.

Bob Gates’ From The Shadows is an interesting book by the former director of the CIA. Gates held numerous posts in the National Security Council and CIA’s analytic directorate. The book has very little “inside baseball” and is much more a history of the times, from the perspective of national security policy and intelligence. If you are interested in foreign policy during the last half of the Cold War, this is a good historical source. If you’re looking for lots of spy stories, or stories of the internal machinations of various political players, you won’t find it here.

Gates provides good stories of the Cold War, what the Soviets were doing around the world, and what the US did to counter them. There is a lot of detail, perhaps too much, but it is organized in such a way that I could skip over parts I wasn’t interested in (eg, Angola in 1975). He has an interesting take on how hawks and doves helped win the Cold War, as negotiation and military buildup both were important. Negotiation kept the relationship from going out of control, and dialogue with the West helped make the risk of proceeding with internal changes acceptable to the Soviets. These are points to keep in mind as we deal with trouble spots around the world. Confrontation and conciliation can be used together to resolve problems.

He writes a lot on Gorbachev, especially how he weakened the communist party in an effort to reform the USSR. A lot of us lived through those years, but I learned a lot about the final years of the Soviet Union reading this book. Gates also gives his take on the five Presidents he worked for. He points out strengths and weaknesses of presidents, insights that changed my views of them. He felt all of them (even Carter) contributed to the collapse of the Soviets.

As long as you keep in mind that it's written by a man who was deputy head of the CIA when it was described as at it's most "corrupt and slanted" (http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/02/new...), and have a decent understanding of the mostly illegal activities they conducted, it makes for an interesting if distasteful read.

I liked this book overall, but there were several things I didn��t like. The book itself was written in 1996 and it shows its age. One example of this was when referring to the Iran hostage crisis (portrayed in the movie Argo) Gates says “...A very brave CIA officer, using a commercial cover, entered Iran with false identities for the six (hostages) and, using techniques that ought to remain secret do they can be used again, managed to get the six out of Iran.” The fake movie cover must have remained classified at the time.

There are several instances where it feels like Gates wrote the book to “set the record straight”. He does not shy away from calling out people who have spoken against him and his views and saying why he believes they’re wrong. As one other reviewer said, he shows his bias a lot in the book and it leads me to wonder if I’m reading facts or opinions.

After reading this book I saw that Gates has written another book about his years in the post 9/11 world and in the Obama administration. I briefly considered reading it but “From the Shadows” left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding Gates. If you’re interested in Soviet-American relations in the last half of the Cold War, this is a great book. If you’re in it for the people I do not recommend it.

Robert Gates can sketch something on a piece of paper and I'd still read that shit and take it as a reliable source of information. No, not because I love him or the United States of America, but he has been in positions which had direct impact on the Cold War and I'm pretty sure he had a huge role in these.

Although it may seem like a memoir in some parts of the book, it's still very valuable information regarding the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Former director of the CIA gives an insider’s look at the CIA, Cold War, and five presidents. A little slow reading with a lot of details about the players. Still an interesting inside look and interesting comments on the presidents from Nixon to Bush. C+

Author is in President Obama's cabinet.

I found it a bit too self-serving, even for a memoir.

Very in depth account of the Cold War era of the CIA by the only person to ever start as a junior and become director. Lots of detail and behind the scenes anecdotes. Can get a little repetitive at times, but still very readable.

A truly balanced, insightful and insider account of the Cold War by a distinguished statesman. I wish America had a few more men like Robert Gates in government.

Interesting balance between Cold War storytelling/analysis and politicking. My perception of the Cold War was changed through reading this book and Gates does get into the personalities involved, too. One gets the sense there is so much more that he doesn't or can't write.