Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing and enlighting
Review: Forever interested in the CIA and it's operatives, I was anxious to pick up a copy of "THE BOOK OF HONOR" and nearly content with what I learned. Ted Gup's writing is enthralling and very real as he delves into the lives of a handful of CIA operatives and the classified missions that ultimately led to their deaths. I was most amazed to find out that these operatives are far from the James Bond characters I had imagined! I truly recommend this book as it explains two sides to each story: one from a human-interest point of view, with many in-depth interviews of surviving friends and family members, while also explaining the secrecy of cover-ups by the CIA. Definitely NOT for the conspiracy-theory types out there!
Rating:
Summary: A True Book of Honor
Review: Having just completed F.M. Bailey's classic Mission to Tashkent (out-of-print), this book was a wonderful continuation of the lives and trials that are the pricetag of intelligence gathering. Mr. Gup's book is well written and seemingly very well researched. Forget James Bond, Derek Flynt and Jack Ryan. Reality, as usual, is far more compelling than anything Hollywood can offer.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but highly self absorbed, not objective history
Review: Here and there in the intro to the catalogue of dead heroes, the author shows a glimmer of global perspective, which unfortunately is not carried through or developed further. He quotes General Jimmy Doolittle (the Tokyo Raider) from a report done for Eisenhower in 1954: "It is now clear that we are facing an implacable enemy... There are no rules in such a game... We must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy our enemies by more clever, more sophisticated and more effective methods than those used against us. It may become necessary that the American people be made acquainted with, understand and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy." Well, at least they tried. The General and most of his right-thinking philosophical descendants (the remainder of the book describes a fer sher bunch of them) have missed the obvious corollary- you may win the battle(s) that way, but what do you have then? Diem, Ky and Thieu, Chiang and Suharto, Saddam and Feisal, Amin, Mobutu, Noriega, Pinochet, the Shah and a hundred other jerkwater SOBs that we kept in power with shiploads of taxpayer dollars, more shiploads of tanks, artillery, helicopters, gunsbombsbullets and a certain percentage of the innocent population disappeared, dead or injured... Makes me real proud, Jimmy! It is excruciatingly clear (although not in this book) that not much has been done to foster development of responsible, intelligient, democratic institutions ANYWHERE... not excluding the home front, during the last 50 years. (Oh, I'm sure things are different in Colombia, aren't you?) The Honor so uncritically and fawningly lavished on these dead heroes is syrupy, superficial and ultimately nauseating. The larger perspective hinted at in the introduction is completely abandoned by the end, as deadlines and editorial excisions probably took their toll. (Can't be controversial, now- might hurt the sales figures!) There are larger and more important lessons still to be learned from these fragmentary, "still mostly classified" stories. Maybe the CIA will let someone tell the rest of the stories in another 40 or 50 years.
Rating:
Summary: An engrossing book
Review: I bought this book based on hearing the author, Ted Gup, give a speech at the National Press Club. His easy delivery in speaking is carried over into the writing of this book. Mr. Gup does not use flowery prose or exotic descriptions, but give you an honest and straightforward accounting of the actions of a department of the CIA responsible for the US covert actions of the last 50 years. After reading this book, I have so much respect for these people who put their lives on the line for our country. I have always been intrigued by the intelligence community, and this book is an insight that is very non-judgemental. I read very few non-fiction books, and this one was definitely worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: All over the place
Review: I bought this book because I love everything covert. This book tried to explain the deaths of a handful of CIA employees. Some of the stories offer some insight on their lives, others only sugar-coat their lives. You can tell that in order to have the victims families participate in the book, Ted Gup had to make all of these guys and girls look flawless. I agree all of these people are heros because they died for their country, but not all of them were saints. I found this book hard to follow because the author jumps around quite a bit. Overall, an interesting read, I am glad I read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable and moving, but not always damning
Review: I expected this book to be another hatchet job on the CIA, calling the organization incompetent and citing its losses as examples. In truth, the profiles are fairly objective, and I was unclear why CIA wants to maintain secrecy around some of them. In many cases, the death chronicled was incidental to the operation, and does not mean than CIA bungled or even that the operation was a failure. One operative in Cyprus happened to be killed in a bomb blast set by terrorists: he looks unlucky, but not necessarily incompetent or betrayed. Sometimes the deaths seem only remotely connected to the operation, as in the story of an agent who committed suicide in a Chinese prison after several years of confinement. In short, this is an interesting and well-written book that provides a good close-up look at CIA. Although by focusing on the dead, Ted Gup ensures that he writes about primarily failed missions, it doesn't make the Agency look as terrible as one might think from the description.
Rating:
Summary: Great CIA "behind the scenes" history book
Review: I found this book very well researched and written. It would be of interest to anyone with a fondness for CIA-spy type history that we often don't read about in mainstream publications. Highly recommended and not very expensive, which is always nice too.
Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: slow and with a slant
Review: I haven't read the book but the 6 hour audiobook was fairly slow for what could have been much more interesting considering the subject matter. It seemed like the author really has an axe to grind against the CIA. The stories seemed overly focused on any mistakes the CIA made. The author lost credibility with me when he said he was the one who revealed the presence of the secret nuclear bunker that was to be used by the US Congress in the instance of a nuclear strike.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read on the History and Personalities of the CIA
Review: I read this book not really knowing what to expect, but after reading the first few chapters I realized that this was not just another book about the CIA. This book documents the lives and personalities that made the CIA. It cronicles all the major events in the last 50 years and puts them into terms of the individual operatives that were involved. I strongly recomend this book to anyone involved in the intelligence business, but also to the individuals with an interest in history.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Enjoyable Biographical Sketches
Review: I really enjoyed reading this well-researched, and well-written, book. I felt all the people in this book died in sad circumstances, and it bothered me how the CIA had to make their deaths appear unconnected to the Agency--it is cruel and inhuman to their familes, even if necessary. Reading this book made me realize I could never have been in the CIA, even if I had wanted to be. I'm a talkative, not a secretive, person. Also, even though I can understand the reasons why, I don't like organizations that operate on a "need-to-know" basis. Overall, a slow and thoughtful read, but never a boring read. A lot of interesting details were included.
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