The brothers : John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and their secret world war / Stephen Kinzer.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-382) and index.

Part. 1. Two brothers. Unmentionable happenings -- The taint of my environment -- Dull, duller, Dulles -- That fella from Wall Street -- Part. 2. Six monsters. A whirling dervish with a college education -- The most forthright pro-Communist -- A matchless interplay of ruthlessness and guile -- The self-intoxicated president -- The tall, goateed radical -- The bearded strongman -- Part. 3. One century. A face of god.

"During the 1950s, when the Cold War was at its peak, two immensely powerful brothers led the United States into a series of foreign adventures whose effects are still shaking the world. John Foster Dulles was secretary of state while his brother, Allen Dulles, was director of the C.I.A. In The Brothers, Stephen Kinzer uses their biographies to ask: Why does the United States behave as it does in the world? Propelled by a quintessentially American set of fears and delusions, the Dulles brothers launched violent campaigns against foreign leaders they saw as threats. Their campaigns led to the Vietnam War, helped push countries from Guatemala to the Congo into long spirals of violence, and laid the foundation for decades of hostility between the United States and countries including Cuba and Iran"--Back cover.