This is an old book, but none has surpased its scope since. Readers will find simpathy for Casey, but still Patrick Leahy and Monyihan both give good reviews for its accuracy. The bottom line that Persico threads is that Casey always wanted to be a foreign affairs statesman but was never given any credit for his abilities because he was too ugly and incoherent so when the best Casey could get was the DCI, then Casey turned the intelligence community into his own little state department to live out his dream.

Persico has done a wonderful job of capturing Casey's magnificent complexity and intellectual voraciousness. Oddly enough the best quote in there, part of a really excellent over-all description of why the DO does not succeed, comes from Herb Meyer when he was a special assistant to Casey: "These guys have built a system that shuts them off from any intelligence except what you can steal. These people needed to be reconnected to reality."

This is a great book that not only documents the life of one of our importatnt leaders but it documents very clearly the thought process used by Casey to find and work his magic in the "gray" areas of politics, business and the law. The book provides insight into the real world of politics from Nixon to Reagan and right through Capitol Hill.

Casey was a very complex character. He was always on the edge -- always straddling that ethical line (and frequently crossing it). The book is fair and it gives a good overview of the former chief of two much feared agencies: the SEC and the CIA.

Persico provides a balanced look at the deceased former Director of Central Intelligence. William Casey has served as both a lightning rod for criticism of the Reagan Administration's proactive foreign policy and as a right-wing hero. Unfortunately both of these views display an amazing inability to take into consideration all of the facts. The author presents Casey in an objective light, showing that the former OSS man often did what he felt was right for the country but in a fashion that just as often went outside the rule of law. Most importantly, Persico gives a more balanced and accurate view of Casey's role in the Iran-Contra scandal than the view presented in Bob Woodward's Secret Wars. Anyone interested in the career of one of the most respected and disrespected of America's former spy chiefs is encouraged to read Casey, from the OSS to the CIA.