At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA

by George Tenet




Title: At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA
Author: George Tenet
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Date of Publication: April 2007
Language:  English
ISBN-10: 0061147788
ISBN-13: 978-0061147784
Price: $30.00
Description: hardcover 576 pages
Availability: Major booksellers and distributors, including online Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com

Read about the author's television interview with CBS's Scott Palley on 60 Minutes.


From the Publisher

In the whirlwind of accusations and recriminations that has attended the post-9/11 world, one man's vital testimony has been conspicuously absent. Candid and compelling, AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM is George Tenet's memoir of his life at the CIA -- a revelatory look at the inner workings of America's top intelligence agency and its dealings with national leaders at home and abroad. With unparalleled knowledge and breadth, Tenet illuminates how the country was prepared -- and not prepared -- to deal with a world full of new and deadly threats.

Beginning with his installation as Director of Central Intelligence in 1997, Tenet unfolds the momentous events that led up to 9/11: his declaration of war on Al Qaeda in 1998, CIA operations inside Afghanistan, the worldwide operational plan to fight terror, his warnings to White House officials in the spring and summer of 2001, and the plan for a response laid down just six days after the attack. Tenet also reveals the CIA's efforts since 9/11 to hunt down the fugitive members of Al Qaeda's leadership.

In his gripping narration of the run-up to the war in Iraq, Tenet provides fresh insights and background, including a privileged account of how the famous "sixteen words" made it into the President's State of the Union speech, the real context of his own now-famous "slam-dunk" comment, and the CIA's views of the rise of an Iraqi insurgency.

Finally, in addition to the backstage story of the headline events, Tenet will offer his thoughts on the future of U.S. intelligence and its role in foreign-policy decisions, setting forth an informed plan for how we can forge a more secure world.


About the Author

George Tenet is currently a professor at Georgetown University.

He served as the Director of Central Intelligence for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for seven years, from July 1997 to July 2004, making him the second-longest serving director in the agency's history.

He was born in Flushing, Queens to immigrant Greeks: his mother, Evangelina, is a Vorioepirotissa who fled Albania during WW2, while his father was born in Greece. He grew up in Queens, NY where he attended public schools and holds degrees from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University.

Tenet is married to Stephanie Glakas. They have one son, John Michael. Tenet also has a twin brother, Bill.



(Posting date 29 April 2007 )

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