"The chronicle of [Broman's] Cold War CIA career bounces around the globe with his own recollections of running agents and other espionage derring-do, as well as stories told to him by friends and colleagues. There’s also a good deal about his off-duty travels throughout the world. The result is an anecdote-heavy, if often stimulating, meander down memory lane." — Publishers Weekly

Barry Broman joined the CIA in 1971 straight out of the Marine Corps, choosing a career in intelligence largely because he wanted to spend his working life in Southeast Asia. Over the next thirty years, he had the privilege of working with brave men and women who were prepared to put their lives on the line in support of the free world during the Cold War, and he enjoyed the life of adventure he had been seeking since childhood.

This book brings together tales from his career as a CIA case officer during the Cold War, giving fascinating insights into handling double agents, working in denied areas, assessing and recruiting Soviet targets, flying with Air America, acting to discredit Soviet agents with Moscow, and what happened when a case officer set a “scavenger hunt” around Bangkok for fellow spies—and at least one active target.

A selection of stories told in engaging style proving that often the truth is more unbelievable than fiction.

• Cover page
• Frontmatter
• Title page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 England
• 2 Associated Press Photographer
• 3 The Girl from Pepeekeo and a Quantico Wedding
• 4 Hard Times in a Hard War
• 5 Combined Action Marines
• 6 My Buddy Ralph
• 7 Air Wing Invitation
• 8 Near Death in Da Nang
• 9 The Skipper and the Chief
• 10 My Favorite Posting
• 11 John Gunther Dean
• 12 An Awkward Turnover
• 13 The Foreign Service Institute
• 14 Operational “Ladies of the Night”
• 15 Spy vs Spy
• 16 Lady Bump
• 17 Air America: The World’s Most Shot-at Airline Gets Revenge
• 18 At the End in Laos,
• 19 A Close Call in Haiti
• 20 Bangkok Scavenger Hunt
• 21 Incident with a Swedish Ambassador
• 22 CODELS
• 23 Home Leave
• 24 Close and Continuing Contacts
• 25 Covert Communications Training
• 26 A Small World Occurrence
• 27 A CIA “Dirty Trick” in the Cold War
• 28 A Favorite Agent
• 29 A Handling Challenge
• 30 A Hard Target Recruitment
• 31 Africa Beckons
• 32 Communicators in Cambodia
• 33 BJ and the CIA
• 34 Across the Pecos
• 35 Chief of Station Conferences
• 36 China-born Officers
• 37 Brendan’s Friend, the General
• 38 Diversity in the Clandestine Service
• 39 FLASH
• 40 Having Staff
• 41 Into the Enemy Camp in Cambodia
• 42 Into the Middle Kingdom
• 43 The Mid-Career Course
• 44 My Double Agent
• 45 Operational Golf
• 46 On the Recruitment of Spies
• 47 Roman Holiday
• 48 Tehran Hostage
• 49 Singapore Incident
• 50 Thailand and the CIA
• 51 The Interior Gang
• 52 Wild Bill Casey
• 53 In the Marine Reserves
• 54 Montana Trek with a Merc
• 55 My Friend the Narc
• 56 A Short Sojourn in Saudi Arabia
• 57 Cambodian Water Festival
• 58 Up the Rajang River of Borneo
• 59 On the Burma Pipeline
• 60 Searching for a Locomotive on the Silk Road
• 61 Travels with Neil Hollander
• 62 The Girl from Yaroslavl