Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors: Religion and the History of the CIA
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Charting the Wilderness -- 1 American Spies and American Catholics -- 2 Refining the Religious Approach -- 3 The Great Jihad of Freedom -- 4 On Caring What It Is -- 5 Baptizing Vietnam -- 6 Counterinsurgency and the Study of World Religions -- 7 Iran and Revo...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subito Delivery Service: | Order now. |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
Chicago
University of Chicago Press
[2021]
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| In: | Year: 2021 |
| Reviews: | [Rezension von: Graziano, Michael, Errand into the wilderness of mirrors] (2023) (Dowland, Seth, 1979 -)
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Religion
/ USA, Central Intelligence Agency
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| IxTheo Classification: | KBQ North America SA Church law; state-church law |
| Further subjects: | B
Intelligence service (United States)
History 20th century
B Generals / HISTORY B National Security (United States) Religious aspects B Intelligence officers (United States) B Cold War Religious aspects |
| Online Access: |
Cover (Verlag) Cover (Verlag) Volltext (doi) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Charting the Wilderness -- 1 American Spies and American Catholics -- 2 Refining the Religious Approach -- 3 The Great Jihad of Freedom -- 4 On Caring What It Is -- 5 Baptizing Vietnam -- 6 Counterinsurgency and the Study of World Religions -- 7 Iran and Revolutionary Thinking -- Conclusion: A New Wilderness -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index Michael Graziano’s intriguing book fuses two landmark titles in American history: Perry Miller’s Errand into the Wilderness (1956), about the religious worldview of the early Massachusetts colonists, and David Martin’s Wilderness of Mirrors (1980), about the dangers and delusions inherent to the Central Intelligence Agency. Fittingly, Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors investigates the dangers and delusions that ensued from the religious worldview of the early molders of the Central Intelligence Agency. Graziano argues that the religious approach to intelligence by key OSS and CIA figures like “Wild” Bill Donovan and Edward Lansdale was an essential, and overlooked, factor in establishing the agency’s concerns, methods, and understandings of the world. In a practical sense, this was because the Roman Catholic Church already had global networks of people and safe places that American agents could use to their advantage. But more tellingly, Graziano shows, American intelligence officers were overly inclined to view powerful religions and religious figures through the frameworks of Catholicism. As Graziano makes clear, these misconceptions often led to tragedy and disaster on an international scale. By braiding the development of the modern intelligence agency with the story of postwar American religion, Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors delivers a provocative new look at a secret driver of one of the major engines of American power |
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| Physical Description: | 1 Online-Ressource (240 p), 2 line drawings |
| Format: | Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. |
| ISBN: | 022676754X |
| Access: | Restricted Access |
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.7208/9780226767543 |