Den of Spies
It was a tinderbox of an accusation. The Iranian hostage crisis was President Jimmy Carter’s largest political vulnerability, and his lack of success freeing them ultimately sealed his fate at the ballot box. In return for keeping Americans in captivity until Reagan assumed the oath of office, the Republicans had secretly funneled arms to Iran. Treasonous and illegal, the operation—planned and executed by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey—amounted to a shadow foreign policy run by private citizens that ensured Reagan’s victory. Investigative journalist Craig Unger was one of the first reporters covering the October Surprise—initially for Esquire and then Newsweek—and while attempting to unravel the mystery, he was fired, sued, and ostracized by the Washington press corps, as a counter narrative took hold: The October Surprise was a hoax. In Den of Spies, Unger reveals the definitive story of the October Surprise, going inside his three-decade reporting odyssey, along with Parry’s never-before-seen archives, and sharing startling truths about what really happened in 1980. The result is a real-life political thriller filled with double agents, CIA operatives, slippery politicians, KGB documents, wealthy Republicans, and dogged journalists. A timely and provocative history that presages our Trump-era political scandals, Den of Spies demonstrates the stakes of allowing foreign meddling and the politics of the moment to obscure the writing of our history. This definitive account reveals the full anatomy of an act of political treason: The October Surprise Conspiracy: Go inside the secret deal between Reagan’s 1980 campaign and the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages for political gain. A Thirty-Year Investigation: Uncover startling new evidence from the author’s decades of reporting and the never-before-seen archives of legendary journalist Robert Parry. Espionage and Treason: Follow spymaster Bill Casey as he deploys a network of double agents and CIA operatives to execute a shadow foreign policy that changed the course of American history. Illegal Arms Deals: Follow a dark money trail of illegal arms shipments funneled to Iran in exchange for keeping American citizens in captivity.