Focusing on the Pentagon's rapid construction during World War II, the book details the extraordinary mobilization of resources and manpower led by Brigadier General Brehon B. Somervell. It highlights the building's significance as a global symbol alongside other iconic structures. Veteran reporter Steve Vogel uncovers the remarkable narrative of the Pentagon's creation and its subsequent rebuilding following the September 11 attacks, offering a unique perspective on this monumental achievement in American history.
The ultra-secret "Berlin Tunnel" was dug in the mid-1950s from the American sector in southwest Berlin and ran nearly a quarter-mile into the Soviet sector, allowing the CIA and the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) to tap into critical KGB and Soviet military underground telecommunication lines. George Blake, a trusted officer working in a highly sensitive job with SIS, was privy to every aspect of the plan. Over the course of eleven months from May 1955 to April 1956, when the Soviets discovered the tunnel, "Operation Gold" provided seemingly invaluable intelligence about Soviet capabilities and intentions. The tunnel was celebrated as an astonishing CIA coup upon its disclosure, and the agency basked in its new reputation as a bold and capable intelligence agency that had, for once, outwitted the KGB. But in 1961, a Polish defector shocked the CIA and SIS by revealing that Blake was a double agent who had disclosed plans for the tunnel to the KGB before it was even built. Blake was arrested and sentenced in 1961 to 42 years in prison, the longest term ever imposed under modern English law. In the years since, the tunnel has been labelled a failure, based on the assumption that the Soviets would never have allowed any information of importance to be transmitted through the tapped lines. Not so. In a work of remarkable investigative reporting, Steve Vogel now reveals that the information picked up by the CIA and SIS was more valuable than even they believed. But why would the Soviets, knowing full well that the tunnel existed, have let slip many of their most valuable secrets? Or did they actually know?
The chilling story revolves around the brutal murder of a mother and her three children, discovered in their home with an ax and butcher knife nearby. A month later, the husband, who was away during the incident, becomes the prime suspect in a trial reliant solely on circumstantial evidence. This New York Times best-seller explores the complexities of the case, enhanced with new content and photos, leaving readers questioning the nature of truth and its often stranger-than-fiction reality.
