While the title stresses that it covers the secret wars of the CIA between the years 1981 through 1987, its main focus is on the new director William Casey. I’ve read eleven of the author’s works and, with the exception of his book ‘Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom,’ enjoyed them all. Woodward’s book reaffirmed what I remember about the Reagan years. Reading ‘Veil’ in 2019 was more of a nostalgic exercise for me. I was in my twenties and had taken a keen interest in learning about politics and social issues beyond what had been served to us in high school and college. Woodward stressed in his introduction that ‘Veil’ was reporting and not a history book. The reader should keep in mind that the zeitgeist during the time period covered was one where the Cold War was in full swing, people were terrified of nuclear war, terrorism was booming, and the international hotspots were somewhat different. William Casey looked more like a James Bond or Dick Tracy eccentric villain than the head of the CIA.
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