The Book of Honor

The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives

By: Ted Gup

Narrated by: Frank Muller

In the entrance of the CIA headquarters looms a huge marble wall in to which seventy-one stars are carved - each representing an agent who has died in the line of duty. At the base of this wall lies "The Book of Honor," in which the names of these agents are inscribed, or at least thirty-five of them. Beside the dates of the other thirty-six, there are no names. The identity of these "nameless stars" has been one of the CIA's most closely guarded secrets for the fifty-three years of the agency's existence. Even family members are told little - in some cases, the agency has denied the fact that the deceased were covert operatives at all.

But what the CIA keeps secret in the name of national security is often merely an effort to hide that which would embarrass the agency itself - even at the cost of denying peace of mind for the families and honor due the "nameless stars." In an extraordinary job of investigative reporting, Ted Gup has uncovered the identities, and the stories, of the men and women who died anonymously in the service of their country. In researching The Book of Honor, Gup interviewed over four hundred current and former covert CIA officers, immersed himself in archival records, death certificates, casualty lists from terrorist attacks, State Department and Defense Department personnel lists, cemetery records, obituaries, and tens of thousands of pages of personal letters and diaries.

In telling the agents' stories, Gup shows them to be complex, vibrant, and heroic individuals - nothing like the suave super spies of popular fiction or the amoral cynics of conspiracy buffs. The accounts of their lives - and deaths - are powerful and deeply moving, and in bringing them at long last to light, Gup manages to render an unprecedented history of covert operations at the CIA.

Listen to Ted Gup on C-SPAN's Booknotes (8/27/00).

©2000 Ted Gup (P)2000 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Gup may have succeeded in humanizing the CIA." (AudioFile)

Enjoyable.The Supreme Sacrifice. Shame on US Now

Theme interesting...CIA Spy events. Narrator very good. Enjoyable listening. Would have preferred it to be longer.

Frank Muller

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not in this format. I'm not sure I will be able to finish it. The narration is too distracting.

Would you be willing to try another one of Frank Muller’s performances?

No. He is an award winning narrator, and has an interesting voice. However, from my perspective, his cadence is monotonous. The intonation in each sentence is spoken exactly like the next. He reminds me of Gregory Peck, but in a way where every sentence is spoken as if it is the most significant sentence in the paragraph. Each sentence separate and unconnected from anything else. I don't think I can get through this.

Good lord, why read it like that?

At present I am not far into the book but, already considering returning it due to the narrators whisper secret tone (like everything about “It’s Tuesday afternoon” is hush hush and top secret. It’s just horrible. Really going to try to finish this but, the narrator should look into reading mystery novels or something vs non-fiction.

Update: had to stop it, couldn’t get through the first story. Seriously needs a non-mystery/suspense book narrator to redo this. Just horrible.

Painfully narrated.

Still in 1st chapter but the narration is unbearable-breathy. Best I read vs listen to this one.

Dry account

Definitely a dry accounting of what could have been really exciting stories. I was hoping to get more background into each operative but what what should expect really from a 7 hour audiobook. Borderline if I ask for a refund or not.

Gut-wrenching stories of unsung heroes

Essential information for every American. Narration is a bit distracting. Learned for the first time during the closing credits that this audio book is abridged.

not a fan of narrator

Like the story! Narrator has a voice and reading cadence that's isn't for me

Bitter Sweet Book

Great book in the sense you learn these interesting stories about spies.

However , it is sad because you see how quickly lives are snuffed out, or people waste away in jail as a POW, and how we live in a world of different sovereign powers using its citizens as pawns to forward the ruling elites agendas.

great book but a bit negative

I really enjoyed this book but there is a tone the author takes sometimes that's clearly his negative bias towards the subject. It would be better to leave it up to the reader to decide what to make of things.

Cool Story Bro

Very exciting stories. This book is a good way to honor those for whom it was reality