An illuminating documentary history of America’s most renowned intelligence agency. Includes a wealth of declassified documents that will give readers an understanding of how the CIA instigated, understood or reacted to key historical events, with the authors’ commentary providing broader contextual analysis. Provides a robust discussion of topics ranging from the high-Cold War and Vietnam to the arms race, rendition, and the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Shows how the business of intelligence and spying, and with it the CIA, has evolved since its inception in 1947. Since its creation in 1947, the CIA has been at the heart of America’s security apparatus. Written by intelligence scholars and experts, The CIA and the Pursuit of Security offers the reader a lively survey of the CIA past and present. The history of the agency is presented through the prism of its declassified documents, with each being supplemented by insightful contextual analysis. The book chronicles the evolution of the CIA, its remarkable successes, clandestine operations, and its ongoing struggle to maintain American security in an age of proliferating threats.