John SipherRecommended Books
American intelligence officer
John Sipher is a former American intelligence officer who served 28 years in the Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service, retiring in 2014 as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service. He is from Cortland, New York. He served as station chief in Serbia following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000 and as station chief in Moscow. Since retirement, Sipher has worked as a foreign policy commentator and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He serves as a senior adviser to the Lincoln Project, The Steady State, and the Council on American Security.
Recommendations are sourced from public posts, interviews, and reading lists.
Recommended Books
These books include Amazon options and source proof where available.
Agent Zigzag
Source & Proof
“Ok, here we go. There are so many good books. I'll focus on the ones that are good/accurate and fun to read. There are a bunch that are good but not really enjoyable. First, Ben McIntyre's books are fun reads Agent Sonya, The Spy and Traitor, Op Mincemeat, Zigzag...”
“..."Palace of Treason" and "The Kremlin's Candidate". David McCloskey is starting strong with "Damascus Station". Re key history related to Russia, Sam Tanenhaus' "Whitaker Chambers" and Allen Weinstein's "Perjury" are musts. 2/”
“I read all Michael Dobbs' books but "One Minute to Midnight" is chilling, as is Lawrence Wright's "Thirteen Days in September." Catherine Belton's excellent "Putin's People" is a must to understand Putin. Also, Toby Harnden's recent "First Casualty" is good on early Afghan. 5/”
“Chambers' book "Witness" is a classic.”
“Among the best histories of Russian espionage is Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev's "The Haunted Wood". Christopher Andrew's classic "The Sword and the Shield" is a history of the KGB. Scott Anderson's recent "The Quiet Americans" is good on early CIA. 4/”
“Ok @readthistwice, here are some more books I recommend that are about espionage (or at least espionage adjacent). As far as fiction I love all John Le Carre. My former colleague Jason Matthews also wrote a great trilogy "Red Sparrow"... 1/”
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This profile tracks book recommendations and authored books for John Sipher. We compile recommendations from verifiable public sources, including interviews, articles, social posts, and official reading lists. Profiles are only published when they meet our thresholds for completeness, verified details, and supporting evidence.
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