America’s Great Game: The CIA’s Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East

During and shortly after World War II, the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency began a series of secret missions in the Middle East. The goal of said missions? To gain political and social control over the Middle East and eastern Asia. Three men, Kermit Roosevelt Jr., Archibald Roosevelt Jr., and Miles Copeland Jr., were primarily responsible for all of America’s intervention and action in the Middle East for the next few decades, with dramatic influence on world events.

The book was enjoyable, if a bit dry and slow-paced. The author provided numerous examples of policies and their effects that gave the reader a better grasp of the situation without breaking the clean flow of the text. Each character was introduced with a short and fascinating biography that helped to establish their character and to give some background for their actions. The book supports its assertions with carefully researched information from personal letters, private interviews, and CIA documents that have only recently been declassified. As such, I would recommend this book to both the veteran historian and the neophyte.