Prologue -- Part one: Prelude. Laurel -- University of Virginia -- New York -- Part two: World War II. The OSS -- Cairo -- Istanbul -- Bucharest -- Berlin -- Part three: The Cold War. Home -- Washington -- Wiz's secret war -- Albania -- Asia and Eastern Europe -- Korea and the Philippines -- Beetle's bark --The red scare and the black book -- Eisenhower -- Iran -- Operation Ajax -- Guatemala -- Operation Success -- Investigations -- Hungary and the canal -- Part four: Sidelined. Breakdown -- Sheppard Pratt -- London -- Outside -- A life cut short -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Selected bibliography -- Source notes -- Index

"An intimate and expertly-researched biography of Frank Wisner, the father of CIA Black Ops, telling the story of his exciting intelligence escapades as well as his lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder"--

Frank Wisner was one of the most powerful men in 1950s Washington, though few knew it. Reporting directly to senior U.S. officials--his work largely hidden from Congress and the public-- Wisner masterminded some of the CIA's most daring and controversial operations in the early years of the Cold War, commanding thousands of clandestine agents around the world. Following an early career marked by exciting escapades as a key World War II spy under General William "Wild Bill" Donovan, Wisner quickly rose through the postwar intelligence ranks to lead a newly created top-secret unit tasked--under little oversight--with overseeing massive propaganda, economic warfare, sabotage, subversion, and guerrilla operations all over the world, including such daring initiatives as the CIA-backed coups in Iran and Guatemala. But simultaneously, Wisner faced a demon few at the time understood: bipolar disorder. When this debilitating disease resulted in his breakdown and transfer to a mental hospital, the repercussions were felt throughout Washington's highest levels of power. Waller's sensitive and exhaustively researched biography is the riveting story of both Frank Wisner as a national figure who inspired a cadre of future CIA secret warriors, and also an intimate and empathetic portrait of a man whose harrowing struggle with bipolar disorder makes his impressive accomplishments on the world stage even more remarkable