Return to About this BibliographyEvery effort has been made to make using this bibliography as simple as reading a book. Clicking on a subject area in the "Main Table of Contents" will take you to a secondary table of contents, from which you can access the materials in which you are interested. The items in each substantive section are usually arranged alphabetically by author; for some topics, a chronological arrangement has been used to make it easier to follow the development of a particular theme or issue or events over a discrete period of time. To leave a particular page, move to the bottom of the page and "turn back" to your previous or another identified page.
The first question a reader might ask is, "How comprehensive is this bibliography?" The easy answer is, "I don't really know." As many substantive categories as seemed relevant have been included, and those categories have been fleshed out with all pertinent items in the English language (and a few in other languages) I could find in the places where I was looking.
That statement contains some clear caveats: First, the categories used are idiosyncratic (informed, I believe, but still idiosyncratic); second, decisions have been made as to whether individual items "belong" (for example, the area of U.S. domestic security is purposely thin, and materials on the Kennedy and King assassinations are treated only in a cursory manner); third, both the listed materials and the sources of quoted reviews are primarily in the English language (a circumstance that alone precludes any pretense of comprehensiveness); and fourth, not all known rocks (much less the unknown ones) have been turned over in the search for materials.
What is here, then? Within the above caveats, most major, many minor, and some obscure books dealing in some fashion with intelligence matters are listed. As often as possible, these are accompanied by comments or reviews from myself, Alec Chambers, published reviews, bibliographers, authors who have chosen to comment on other writers' works, or some other source.
Almost every article published in both of the academically oriented intelligence journals, Intelligence and National Security and International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, is at least listed, and many of these listings include substantive or other comments based on my or someone else's reading of the article. Listed articles from a substantial number of other intelligence or national security-oriented journals, magazines, newsletters, and the like also often will carry notations as to content or thrust, as will news and commentary items gleaned from the major U.S. newspapers or other media, including the Internet. The source of comments and reviews is clearly indicated in all instances.
The primary and other sources of both materials and comments are detailed in separate files: MAJOR SOURCES and OTHER SOURCES.
Writers of book reviews, beware! There really is someone out there paying attention to what you produce. For more years than I care to enumerate, books have fascinated me, and my earliest memories are of reading anything I could get my hands on. At some point prior to entering college, I discovered the book review sections of the major newspapers. I have been reading book reviews in their myriad forms -- newspapers, magazines, journals -- ever since. It was, thus, a natural step to begin to record systematically the more pertinent comments from reviews in a bibliographic database for use in association with my personal and academic interest in intelligence and national security issues. That limited goal has over time been expanded to the substantial presentation now extant.
In furtherance of the concept of truth in publishing, the user of this bibliography probably deserves some knowledge of the compiler's background. I spent the better part of my adult life working for the Central Intelligence Agency, retiring in mid-1990 from the Senior Intelligence Service.
From August 1990 to June 1998, I taught a range of courses in the Political Science Department at Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio. For the next 3 years, I was Muskingum's Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs. And from July 2001 to July 2005, I was Vice President for Administration (and from December 2001 to July 2002, served simultaneously as Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement). I retired from Muskingum University in July 2005, and was honored by being granted Emeritus status.
I am the recipient of the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit (1990), Muskingum University's William Oxley Thompson Award for Excellence in Teaching (1992), and the University's Cora I. Orr Award for Faculty Service (1997). If you want to know more than what has been given above, click for a substantial Curriculum Vitae (yes, the portion pertaining to the CIA years is the version approved before my departure).
I believe in the need for a central, civilian-controlled entity for the collection, preparation, and dissemination of national-level foreign intelligence. At the same time, I accept that the current structure may not be the only way in which the U.S. intelligence function could be organized. My views on the reorganization proposals in the Boren and McCurdy bills of 1992 are contained in an article published in the Ohio Journal of Economics and Politics, vol 8, no. 1 (Fall 1993), pp. 1-10. Click for text of the article.
For a fuller presentation of my views on intelligence, see my Intelligence and National Security: A Reference Handbook (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International Reference, 2007).
Substantial appreciation is due to the late Charleen G. Kirkpatrick, M.D., President, Green Educational Foundation, two grants from which offered financial assistance toward and psychological reinforcement during the initial effort to compile these materials.
Special acknowledgement must go to Muskingum University's Director of Computer and Network Services, Lewis M. Dreblow, for sustained efforts to support -- and, in the end, make possible -- the electronic version of this bibliography.
My thanks also to Alec Chambers who has shared his bibliographic and commentary efforts so selflessly. His reviews are featured prominently here not because they were free but because of their insight and basic rationality.
I cannot imagine that my transition from bureaucrat to university professor would have passed so smoothly without the guidance and support of Dr. Stacia Straley. Her wisdom and foresight in seeing that I had something to offer to the world of undergraduate education borders on the miraculous.
The Beta testers/reviewers of this bibliography did all of us -- compiler and readers alike -- an enormous favor by making positive and constructive comments, some of which led to immediate improvements and others which will bear fruit in the future.
To those who know us, it goes without saying that my late wife, Janet, has been, is, and always will be an integral part of anything I do. The Rev. Dr. Harold Kaser had the goodness of heart to tell me that I still was needed and had purpose in the dark days following Janet's death. Muskingum University President Dr. Anne C. Steele has my eternal gratitude for showing me that purpose and challenging me to follow it. And, now, there is Helen who has returned joy to my life.
To all of you and others too numerous to catalog, my deepest thanks. The mistakes herein are mine alone, but your spirits infuse the best parts of my work.
J. Ransom Clark, J.D.
E-Mail: rclark@muskingum.edu
Revised: 4/28/12
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