{"id":764,"date":"2011-02-02T11:45:36","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T16:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antipaucity.com\/?p=764"},"modified":"2011-02-02T11:45:36","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T16:45:36","slug":"gideons-spies-by-gordon-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merikebi.warrenmyers.com\/?p=764","title":{"rendered":"gideon’s spies by gordon thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

{{Gideon’s Spies}} by {{Gordon Thomas}} claims to be “the secret history of the Mossad”.<\/p>\n

From the myriad reviews on Amazon, I didn’t know whether to be expecting a massive work of historical fiction, or a insightful tour de force<\/em>. After having nearly finished it, I don’t know if I have an opinion of whether it’s “inciteful” or “insightful”. Of course, this is supposed to be detailing backroom dealings, secretive organizations, and national intelligence operations: so there is likely a fair amount of ego building and some fanciful manufacturisms along the way.<\/p>\n

It is written in a conversational, informative tone and is eminently readable. The “structure” reminds me of how some of the best professors I had in college spoke – the stories didn’t seem to happen in any particular order or for a reason, but by the end you can see how they all interlink to give the picture.<\/p>\n

Several of the items in the book I can informally verify to be true having spoken to other first-hand sources on some of the topics. Whether the entire<\/em> book is “true” or not, it is certainly worth reading for at least the perspective of Mr Thomas, and the sources he has interviewed.<\/p>\n

As with any other claimed expos\u00e9, much of what is said needs to be taken with grains<\/span> boulders of salt, but it is very well written overall. It starts with an account of folks surrounding Lady Diana’s death – Mossad agents, MI5, MI6, Dodi Fayed, etc etc. What this has to do with the rest of the book… I don’t know, but it was still an interesting take. Some would say this is to support conspiracy theorists and their beliefs that intelligence agencies are all-powerful, and that they will actively withhold information that could benefit their allies just because of personality clashes. Personally, while I think some of that happens, it can’t really be as wide-spread as some would claim, or some countries would have been removed from the gene pool.<\/p>\n

My biggest complaint is that for a professional journalist, Mr Thomas CANNOT<\/strong><\/em> use the phrase “try to” properly – almost invariably he says “try and” instead! GAAAHHH!!<\/p>\n

Should you read the book? I think it’s worthwhile, even if it turns out to be 90% fiction. If you approach it as a book in the strain of the Jack Ryan universe created by {{Tom Clancy}}, and it turns out to be true – cool. And if not, you at the very least had an entertaining time.<\/p>\n