NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
This account of the amazing Korean War service of Air Force Major Donald Nichols is given a solid narration by Mark Bramhall. Harden shows us Nichols’s hardscrabble background as well as his good instincts and creative intelligence. He was also self-promoting and Machiavellian—but still a highly effective intelligence officer. Nichols was able in insinuate himself into the trust of South Korean President Rhee, and while Nichols ran a successful operation, his methods will shock many listeners. Bramhall’s baritone is resonant and warm. His pace is easy to follow. He often affects accents for different voices when reading quotes. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
"A good yarn and a timely one — appearing as Americans are once again pondering the possibility of war with North Korea."
—Mary Louise Kelly, Washington Post
“Compellingly told.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“[A] masterful work of narrative history.”
—South China Morning Post
“A rip-roaring exposé . . . King of Spies is set in the 1940s and 50s, but the conundrum at its center is timeless: do the ends of effective espionage justify the actions of dangerous men employing dubious means? With 21st century America globally engaged in black operations, under questionable oversight, that question remains as pertinent today as ever.” —Asia Times
“Provocative . . . a must-read.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
"Harden’s Nichols is both a victim and an exemplar of a war that 'most Americans never debated, let alone understood.'"
—Publishers Weekly
"An engrossing hidden history of wartime espionage, with elements of derring-do and moral barbarity. . . . [Harden] ably connects his ominous central figure to the larger mysterious, unresolved narrative of the Korean conflict....Fascinating."
—Kirkus Reviews
“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
“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
“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 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
Praise for The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot:
"Blaine Harden has done more than anyone else to bring [North Korea] to a mass audience. . . . Thrilling stuff."
—The Washington Post
"A riveting book that makes the history of North Korea accessible to the general reader."
—Wall Street Journal
"An eminently readable picture of our most under-remembered war."
—The Daily Beast
Praise for Escape From Camp 14:
"Harden's book, besides being a gripping story, unsparingly told, carries a freight of intelligence about this black hole of a country."
—Bill Keller, The New York Times
"A remarkable story."
—The Wall Street Journal
"A riveting new biography . . . If you want a singular perspective on what goes on inside the rogue regime, then you must read [this] story."
—CNN
Library Journal
★ 10/01/2017
Harden's (Escape from Camp 14) third book on North Korea tells the bizarre tale of Donald Nichols, an army motor pool sergeant-turned-spy chief, who masterminded U.S. intelligence operations in Korea for a decade starting just before the Korean War in this provocative tale of intelligence coups, atrocities, and strange behavior. Very successful spy operations and a close relationship with South Korean strongman Syngman Rhee earned Nichols wide latitude for bad behavior and violations of U.S. military regulations. Falling from grace in 1957, Nichols was evacuated from Korea in a straitjacket and treated for serious mental illness. Harden also documents Nichols's serious sex crimes and financial wrongdoing after returning from Korea. From Nichols's autobiography, court and press records, and obscure military records, Harden has uncovered this story of both great success and large failures. VERDICT For readers interested in Korea, the Korean War, or U.S. intelligence operations, this is a must-read. Harden raises troubling questions about U.S. conduct in the Korean War.—Mark Jones, Mercantile Lib., Cincinnati
NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
This account of the amazing Korean War service of Air Force Major Donald Nichols is given a solid narration by Mark Bramhall. Harden shows us Nichols’s hardscrabble background as well as his good instincts and creative intelligence. He was also self-promoting and Machiavellian—but still a highly effective intelligence officer. Nichols was able in insinuate himself into the trust of South Korean President Rhee, and while Nichols ran a successful operation, his methods will shock many listeners. Bramhall’s baritone is resonant and warm. His pace is easy to follow. He often affects accents for different voices when reading quotes. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-08-07
Fascinating account of an espionage pioneer who thrived during the Korean War and then disappeared into disgraced obscurity.Harden (The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and the Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom, 2015, etc.) deepens his exploration of Korean history with the bizarre story of Donald Nichols (1923-1992), who spent World War II as a motor pool sergeant, then moved into military intelligence in Korea as the peninsula was descending into civil war, becoming a confidant of anti-communist strongman (and eventual South Korean president) Syngman Rhee. "In Nichols," writes the author, "Rhee discovered a back door for delivering intelligence that could influence American policy toward Korea." However, Nichols also witnessed Rhee's torture and massacre of both insurgents and civilians prior to the 1950 Soviet-backed North Korean invasion. Nichols' prescient warnings about the invasion to the American military were ignored; once war began, he was able to run operations including code-breaking and pilfering secrets from disabled Russian tanks and planes. "The air force credited Nichols, more than anyone else, with finding bomb targets in North Korea," writes Harden. Under the protection of a powerful superior, Nichols built up an unsupervised black-ops unit, often sending South Koreans on suicide missions. His shadowy activities continued after the 1952 armistice (when he was vilified as a spy in a North Korean show trial), but in 1957, Nichols was abruptly sacked by the military and hospitalized, receiving electroshock therapy. Living with relatives in Florida, the ex-spymaster tried to acclimate to civilian life, but he was eventually revealed to be a sexual predator, accused of molesting young boys. Harden's research shows such behavior had begun with his subordinates during the war, seemingly signifying the amoral inner life of an otherwise audacious, successful spy. The author ably connects his ominous central figure to the larger mysterious, unresolved narrative of the Korean conflict. An engrossing hidden history of wartime espionage, with elements of derring-do and moral barbarity.
