Cassell, 2001, $29.95, ISBN 0-304-35382-5, 625 pages, hardback

Sometimes, a book just doesn't click, no matter how interesting the topic. This is one of them. I tried, multiple times, to continue reading. I didn't make it past page 104. Then I tried skipping around, but alas, that tactic didn't work either. The last straw was chapter 5 on Korea. The table of contents says "Korea 1959-1953," an obvious typo since every other chapter has ascending dates. The actual chapter heading on page 163 says "Korea 1950-1953" and the maps on pages 165 and 167 say "Korea 1959-1963." I guess the proof reader became as fed up as I was.

On the plus side, Harclerode certainly did his homework. If you wanted a good summary of covert actions in any given country covered in the 10 chapters, this isn't a bad place to start. However, you soon become overwhelmed in a sea of acronyms and a tidal wave of anecdotes. As I noted, the basic topic is fascinating.

On the negative side, an author must turn the raw data into information, and here Harclerode flounders badly. For all the "this group did this" and "that group did that," I feel as if I'm reading some bureaucrat's checklist of operations. The author's prose drowns you in static recapitulations -- if he were a speaker, he'd speak in monotone and you'd be forming your own cell to liberate the lecture hall.

Fighting Dirty need not read like a spy thriller, but it should at least read like a book. The data inside may be golden, but the delivery is leaden.