[T]heoharis provides a good introduction to the history, structure, and operations of the CIA, information required to understand fully what all the heated arguments are about. The chapters cover the agency's origins, foreign and domestic liaison arrangements, covert activities, the work of intelligence and counterintelligence units, and CIA controversies from 1947 to 2004. The chapters are further subdivided and labeled by subtopic, and the indexing and table of contents are helpful in directing one's study. The book's reference value is increased by its 29-page chronology of key events, 20-page annotated bibliography, list of acronyms, and short biographies of 50 important CIA-related individuals. Readers can also examine the CIA's Factbook on Intelligence for the official facts and links to more information from the intelligence community….Theoharis's high-quality publication is suitable for academic and larger public libraries.