Den of Spies

Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason That Stole the White House

By: Craig Unger

Narrated by: Jason Culp

The explosive inside story of the October Surprise conspiracy, a stunning act of treason that changed American history. New York Times bestselling author Craig Unger reveals his thirty-year investigation into the secret collusion between Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign and Iran, raising urgent questions about what happens when foreign meddling in our elections goes unpunished and what gets remembered when the political price for treason is victory.

It was a tinderbox of an accusation. In April 1991, the New York Times ran an op-ed alleging that Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign had conspired with the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages until after the 1980 election. The Iranian hostage crisis was President Jimmy Carter’s largest political vulnerability, and his lack of success freeing them ultimately sealed his fate at the ballot box. In return for keeping Americans in captivity until Reagan assumed the oath of office, the Republicans had secretly funneled arms to Iran. Treasonous and illegal, the operation—planned and executed by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey—amounted to a shadow foreign policy run by private citizens that ensured Reagan’s victory.

Investigative journalist Craig Unger was one of the first reporters covering the October Surprise—initially for Esquire and then Newsweek—and while attempting to unravel the mystery, he was fired, sued, and ostracized by the Washington press corps, as a counter narrative took hold: The October Surprise was a hoax. Though Unger later recovered his name and became a bestselling author on Republican abuses of power, the October Surprise remained his white whale, the project he—as well as legendary investigative journalist, the late Robert Parry—worked on late at night and between assignments.

In Den of Spies, Unger reveals the definitive story of the October Surprise, going inside his three-decade reporting odyssey, along with Parry’s never-before-seen archives, and sharing startling truths about what really happened in 1980. The result is a real-life political thriller filled with double agents, CIA operatives, slippery politicians, KGB documents, wealthy Republicans, and dogged journalists. A timely and provocative history that presages our Trump-era political scandals, Den of Spies demonstrates the stakes of allowing the politics of the moment to obscure the writing of our history.

©2024 Craig Unger (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Treasonous collusion is nothing new for the GOP

We like to think we are living in times that are uniquely corrupt, but in my 50+ years on this planet, Republicans have always engaged in treason in order to grasp and maintain power. Whether it's Anna Chennault, and sabotaging peace talks in Vietnam, essentially extending the war 5+ years to get Nixon elected. Or the Hashemi brothers under William Casey, sabotaging the release of American hostages in Iran to get Reagan and George H.W. Bust elected. Or the treason in the past several years from the orange putrescence. Every single Republican President has engaged in disqualifying and felonious behavior for the sake of power. Which is not to say Democrats have been angels, but even they have to stand in awe of the sheer audacious scope of GOP corruption.

decades of cause and effect

I'll have to read this one again. There's so much to process. The details help to unpack decades of cause and effect. I appreciate his relentless search for truth and bringing it to light.

Receipts brought!

The book occasionally read like a text as there were so many facts in the body & footnotes. But still enjoyable! If you want to study facts you've got your start. If you want to understand history you can easily do that. I'm shocked by the story. THIS should be taught in schools. Can we get a movie?

Historic

Absolutely stunning, as a young women during this time all I can think of is what we lost. Jimmy Carter was a wonderful president who was undermined by selfish, operatives. What the hostages lost and what we as a country lost is stunning. Great historical read as always Craig Unger hits it out of the park again.