Secret History: The C.I.A.'s Classified Account of Its Operations in Guatemala, 1952-1954

In 1992, the CIA hired the young historian Nick Cullather to write a history (classified secret and for internal distribution only) of the Agency's Operation PBSUCCESS, which overthrew the lawful government of Guatemala in 1954. Given full access to the Agency's archives, he produced an insider's account, intended as a training manual for covert operators, detailing how the CIA chose targets, planned strategies, and organized the mechanics of waging a secret war. In 1997, during a brief period of open disclosure, the CIA declassified the history with remarkably few substantive deletions. The New York Times called it an astonishingly frank account which may be a high-water mark in the agency's openness. Here is that account, with new notes by the author which clarify points in the history and add newly available information.