King of Spies

Blaine Harden’s King of Spies is jaw-droppingly good — a quirky, unlikely, thrilling true story of intrigue and daring and depravity told by a master of the genre * David Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story *Blaine Harden has now produced a fascinating trilogy of stranger-than-fiction books about North Korea. His latest, King of Spies, is about a gay, middle school dropout who was one of the few U.S. officials to predict the outbreak of the Korean War and whose espionage activities had a profound impact on the course of the war. You’ve probably never heard of Donald Nichols, but you’ll never forget him after reading King of Spies * Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea *A must-read for readers interested in Korea, the ­Korean War, or U.S. intelligence operations * Library Journal *King of Spies is a dark story of espionage and evil by a wild American military spymaster in Korea, a tale both revelatory and tragic. Blaine Harden’s superb book throws open a long-ignored chapter in the Korean War; a compelling and disturbing read, not to be missed * David E. Hoffman, author of The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal *A thrilling real-life spy story told by a terrific writer. * Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA *Blaine Harden has done what no one else thought to do in seven decades: He’s brought us the full, secret, astonishing story of one of the most improbably powerful characters in American history, and he has done so with crystalline writing and in jaw-dropping detail * Steve Twomey, author of Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack *Many accounts of the Korean War are full of mystery, hinting at horrific crimes and large-scale covert operations. King of Spies pierces that mystery through the story of a remarkable American operative who took his mission to mind-boggling extremes. The adventures that fill these pages, from bleak battlefields to the corridors of power, tell us much about how the world really works * Stephen Kinzer, author of Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq *Fascinating account of an espionage pioneer who thrived during the Korean War and then disappeared into disgraced obscurity … An engrossing hidden history of wartime espionage, with elements of derring-do and moral barbarity. * Kirkus *

Blaine Harden is a reporter for PBS Frontline and a contributor to The Economist, based in Seattle, having completed a tour as the Washington Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo. He is the prize-winning, acclaimed author of Escape From Camp 14; Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent; A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia and The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot.