Siro: A Novel

1979 was a watershed year in world affairs:** Islamic forces led by the Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah of Iran and imprisoned 90 hostages in the US embassy in Tehran.** At the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel signed a peace treaty.** Civil war broke out in El Salvador, and the Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrew the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua.** Provisional IRA terrorists killed Lord Mountbatten in Ireland.** The United States and the People's Republic of China established full diplomatic relations.** And the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.This is the tumultuous historical setting in the background of David Ignatius' dazzling novel of espionage, Siro. It's the most intelligent spy novel I've read in many years.When the CIA was dysfunctionalThe 1970s brought little but trouble for the CIA. The legacy of Allen Dulles' long tenure at the helm of the agency was scandal. One after another, Congressional investigators brought to light the ugly reality of the nation's most visible intelligence service: Watergate, the bungled operations, the assassinations and attempted assassinations of heads of state, the intervention in domestic affairs. Directors appointed to reform the agency forced out much of the old guard, with the heaviest toll landing on the clandestine Directorate of Operations. By 1979, the few survivors of the CIA's early years considered the agency to be dysfunctional. One of those survivors is one of the three central characters in Siro.A relic of what was best and most enduringEdward Stone is the former chief of the Near East Division. Like others present at the founding of the agency, he had fought in the OSS during World War II. Unlike most of his peers, he was still in place three decades later. He survived on the strength of his friendships with colleagues in senior leadership positions and by keeping a low profile in an obscure position outside the agency's hierarchy. Stone laments the deplorable condition into which the CIA has fallen, with those he considers politicians and paper-pushers calling the shots and hobbling every attempt to take action. "He saw himself, in the twilight of his career, as a relic of what was best and most enduring about the America that had grown up so quickly during and after World War II—namely, the Central Intelligence Agency."To put the agency back on the offensive against the Soviet Union, Stone undertakes a secret plan to stir up nationalist sentiment in the Islamic Soviet republics of Central Asia. He finds his agents in the disgruntled veteran officer who heads the US Consul in Istanbul and an idealistic young woman who is barely out of training as an officer. In Siro, we follow the action that unfolds in chapters that alternate among these three principal characters.The most intelligent spy novel I've read in many yearsMost popular spy novels tend to be saturated with violence. Gunfights. Car chases. And battles of wits between ruthless CIA and KGB officers. There's nothing of that in Siro. The book is an intelligent spy novel . . . an entirely believable account of the business of espionage as it must actually be conducted:** The Agency's Director sends a memo to all supervisory staff on "Managing by Objectives," assigning 20 objectives and requiring everyone to explain how they're implementing them.** Somebody in the Director's office becomes obsessed about gunrunning from Bulgaria into Turkey and insists all CIA personnel in the two countries actively investigate. But they all know guns are coming into Turkey through a number of other channels.** Intelligence officers burn out, often break the rules, and forget passwords.** And all the while the KGB runs circles around the CIA, tapping every line of communication in and out of every American property in the Soviet Union and identifying every US asset.This is the real world, not James Bond's or Gabriel Allon's.The Soviet republics of Central Asia were all once TurkestanThe action in Siro involves a land known to many of its present-day inhabitants as Turkestan. Turkestan is a geographical and cultural expression, not a nation-state in the modern sense of the term. Its history reaches back to the fourth century BCE, but it's most easily described as the remnants of Genghis Khan's 13th-century empire. The land stretches from the Gobi desert in the east to the shores of the Caspian Sea in the west, with Siberia to the north and Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet to the south. It encompasses today's modern "Stans" and the sprawling western Chinese province of Xinjiang. The common element is that Turkic languages dominate the region. This is the site of Edward Stone's private war against the USSR.About the authorDavid Ignatius is an associate editor and columnist for the Washington Post, where he has worked since 1986. He is also a familiar television commentator. The first of his 10 novels to date was published in 1987. He was educated at Harvard and Cambridge Universities.

Ignatius really seems to know, to have lived the CIA roles he describes. He doesn't glorify what his characters do, in fact, often it is quite the opposite and reminds one vaguely of the grim realities described in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The hero or heroine do not always win the day, and usually there is a big price to pay. This book is no exception. In an organization with compartmentalized functions, any one player doesn't know the whole plan, and this can lead to devastating results. And therein lies much of the drama with individuals relying on the basic honesty and goodness of purpose in an environment where such qualities are inaccurate descriptors of the moral code. Siro doesn't focus on any one character for very long. There are vignettes of many characters, and the reader may often speculate on who will be pivotal, who is the "star"? And yet, I find this fascinating, how people manage to put forth their best efforts anyway, and keep coming back for more as witnessed by the closing pages of Siro. The spy game: It must really get into your blood. And, the genre has definitely gotten into mine. I can't wait for David Ignatius's next effort.

I've read a few Ignatius novels and I'd say Siro matches up well with his previous works.However, the story, set in 1979, is really about the CIA's "tradecraft" and less about a tension-filled story that races to a dramatic conclusion. Since I love that kind of stuff, I found it deeply satisfying, because the moral gray of the espionage world comes through lout and clear in this complex novel. But if you are looking for heart-pounding adventure, this may not work for you.The only criticism I would offer is that the novel sometimes veers into wordiness. There are sections that slow to a craw with far too much dialogue and description. The novel could have used a slight trimming, and I think it would have been deserving of five stars if that were the case.Once again, Ignatius provides great insight and detail about how the CIA works, to such an extent that I often wonder if he had been an operative in the past. Fans of his previous work should enjoy this Cold War era novel set primarily in Turkey and the former Soviet Union.

This one has all the elements of good Ignatius novels: great atmospherics, solid characters, an authentic plotline, realistic cultural and indigenous details, informative historical background, and a sense of the operative native values. Set in 1979, the book recalls ( I think it was written 20 years ago, though apparently published last year) older depictions of the tensions and stresses within the CIA and the effects those dysfunctions have in "the field." Overall, it's a stimulating and satisfying read. Compares with some of the best of Gerald Seymour, particularly in its sensitivity for what drives individuals.

Enjoyable reading.......gets exciting as the story moves on.....well written and well done!As an aside, the novel is a starter course in understanding thought processes in the people of Turkey and environs,,,,,,,also, kind of difficult to believe that the KGB is so perfect in spy tradecraft, and that the CIA is so lacking in the same ....

Neither the characters nor the events were dinky. All rang true. The people were "human" some of whom struggled with recognisable questions of morality while others were too cynical or hardened to even consider them. The sexual tension was classy & satisfied. All the characters played well together as they crisscrossed the world plotting nefarious deeds. Some succeeded, some fell apart, no one was a super wo/man. All had clay feet. A thoroughly enjoyable romp in the shadows of the CIA.

David Ignatius's books are consistently good and this is the most recent one of his that I have read. Not many authors where you can read one of their books after the other and still enjoy them.

One of the best spy novels i have read in recent times. It is so cleverly researched and well written that it is hard to believe it is a work of fiction

It's a good story but not a great story!!

Suppose reading in sequence would have made this a better read, for me. The series is very good if a bit farfetched in character ability

It is a good spy novel and certainly kept me interested right through the book.