OverworldOverworld
the Life and Times of a Reluctant Spy
Title rated 3.65 out of 5 stars, based on 3 ratings(3 ratings)
Book, 2004
Current format, Book, 2004, , All copies in use.Book, 2004
Current format, Book, 2004, , All copies in use. Offered in 0 more formatsAn intriguing memoir that journeys into the complex and dangerous world of covert statecraft and espionage describes growing up as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster, his refusal to take a job with the CIA in order to pursue a life in business, and his job as an agent for Muhammad Ali, a position that drew him back into the family business. 40,000 first printing.
Presents a memoir of the author 's childhood as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster and his work as an agent for Muhammad Ali, which led to his eventual enlistment into the world of espionage.
Larry Kolb was born into a house of spies. Raised all over the world as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster, he learned from his father to think, look, and listen like a spy. "The overworld" was his father's term for the powers-that-be, the figures behind the figure-heads who secretly shape the world we live in. Overworld is Larry Kolb's story of his own lifelong, intimate interaction with those powers: how his unusual childhood led to his own decision to turn down the CIA when they first recruited him, and how his ascent in the international business world - becoming, among other things, Muhammad Ali's agent and friend - became his unlikely path back into the world of espionage.
Unlike any book before it, Overworld casts in genuinely human terms what it means and feels like to be a spy. From the practical to the emotional, it reveals how the world of espionage and covert statecraft actually works, and exposes the dark heart of a life built on betrayals.
A vivid and gripping portrait of a spy at every stage of his life and career, from the son of a spymaster who became a spy himself.
Larry Kolb was born into a house of spies. Raised all over the world as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster, Kolb was taught by his father to think, look, and listen like a spy. But when Kolb himself was recruited to join the CIA, he declined, choosing instead to pursue a career in business. He became, among other things, Muhammad Ali's agent, a role that turned out to be a circuitous route back to the world of espionage.
At Ali's side, Kolb had invitations to the parties, palaces, boardrooms, and bedrooms-especially in the Middle East-of many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people. At one of those parties, Kolb befriended Adnan Khashoggi, then the richest man in the world, and the world's most prominent arms dealer; Kolb ended up marrying one of his daughters. Kolb's extraordinary access made him irresistible to legendary spymaster and CIA cofounder Miles Copeland. Beginning with secret negotiations with the Ayatollah Khomeini and a covert mission to Beirut with Ali to negotiate the release of an American hostage, Kolb found his way back to the family business, becoming Miles Copeland's eyes and ears and sometimes mouth in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, and Pakistan.
Unlike any book before it, Overworld captures what it genuinely means and feels like to be a spy-from the practical to the emotional, revealing how the world of espionage and covert statecraft actually works-and exposing the dark heart of a life spent betraying confidences. In itself an adventure story of the highest order, Overworld reads like the best of John le Carré-but it's all true.
Presents a memoir of the author 's childhood as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster and his work as an agent for Muhammad Ali, which led to his eventual enlistment into the world of espionage.
Larry Kolb was born into a house of spies. Raised all over the world as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster, he learned from his father to think, look, and listen like a spy. "The overworld" was his father's term for the powers-that-be, the figures behind the figure-heads who secretly shape the world we live in. Overworld is Larry Kolb's story of his own lifelong, intimate interaction with those powers: how his unusual childhood led to his own decision to turn down the CIA when they first recruited him, and how his ascent in the international business world - becoming, among other things, Muhammad Ali's agent and friend - became his unlikely path back into the world of espionage.
Unlike any book before it, Overworld casts in genuinely human terms what it means and feels like to be a spy. From the practical to the emotional, it reveals how the world of espionage and covert statecraft actually works, and exposes the dark heart of a life built on betrayals.
A vivid and gripping portrait of a spy at every stage of his life and career, from the son of a spymaster who became a spy himself.
Larry Kolb was born into a house of spies. Raised all over the world as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster, Kolb was taught by his father to think, look, and listen like a spy. But when Kolb himself was recruited to join the CIA, he declined, choosing instead to pursue a career in business. He became, among other things, Muhammad Ali's agent, a role that turned out to be a circuitous route back to the world of espionage.
At Ali's side, Kolb had invitations to the parties, palaces, boardrooms, and bedrooms-especially in the Middle East-of many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people. At one of those parties, Kolb befriended Adnan Khashoggi, then the richest man in the world, and the world's most prominent arms dealer; Kolb ended up marrying one of his daughters. Kolb's extraordinary access made him irresistible to legendary spymaster and CIA cofounder Miles Copeland. Beginning with secret negotiations with the Ayatollah Khomeini and a covert mission to Beirut with Ali to negotiate the release of an American hostage, Kolb found his way back to the family business, becoming Miles Copeland's eyes and ears and sometimes mouth in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, and Pakistan.
Unlike any book before it, Overworld captures what it genuinely means and feels like to be a spy-from the practical to the emotional, revealing how the world of espionage and covert statecraft actually works-and exposing the dark heart of a life spent betraying confidences. In itself an adventure story of the highest order, Overworld reads like the best of John le Carré-but it's all true.
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- New York : Riverhead Books, 2004.
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