The definitive, character-driven history of CIA covert operations and U.S. government-sponsored assassinations, from the author of the Pulizter Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain

SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NUCLEAR WAR: A SCENARIO

Surprise your target. Kill your enemy. Vanish without trace.

From the dawn of the Cold War to the present day, when diplomacy fails and overt military action is not feasible, American Presidents have called on the Special Activities Division - a highly-classified branch of the CIA, and the most effective black-operations force in the world.

Originally known as the president's guerrilla warfare corps, these paramilitary teams conduct risky and ruthless assignments that are as shocking and controversial as they are morally complex. With unparalleled access to former CIA operators and top members of its Senior Intelligence Service, ambassadors, and even a past director of the Secret Service, bestselling author of Nuclear War Annie Jacobsen reveals a complex world of individuals working in treacherous environments populated with killers, connivers, and saboteurs. Is the CIA's paramilitary army America's weaponized strength, or a liability? Every operation reported in this book, however unsettling, is legal.

Praise for Annie Jacobsen:

'A stomach-clenching, multi-perspective, ticking-clock, geopolitical thriller' Forbes

'Dangerously plausible - and it reads like a thriller' Sunday Times

'These are scenes straight out of Dr Strangelove' Telegraph