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Title details for Class 11 by T. J. Waters - Available

Class 11

Inside The CIA's First Post-9/11 Spy Class

by T. J. Waters
Patrick Lawlor
Audiobook
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Written by one of its own graduates, Class 11: Inside the CIA's First Post-9/11 Spy Class is a gripping insider's look at the first post-9/11 CIA training class—the most elite and secretive espionage training program in the country.


Like all Americans, T. J. Waters was stunned, angry, and grief stricken by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. More than that, he wanted to take action to help prevent such an event from ever happening again. Waters was not alone. In the weeks following the attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency received over 150,000 resumés from people wanting to serve their nation as spies. More than one hundred students were admitted to the CIA's Clandestine Service to become Class 11, the first post-9/11 CIA training class. It was the largest and most diverse class in the agency's history. Joining Waters were a World Trade Center victim's fiancée, an NFL alumnus, a New York City comedian, a college athletics coach, a hostage negotiator, and a single mother. Class 11 is the real story of how this band of everyday Americans joined together to endure the challenge of a lifetime and serve their country. Against the backdrop of Osama bin Laden's videotaped taunts; the Washington, D.C., sniper attacks; and the loss of a CIA field officer in Afghanistan, Waters takes readers behind the scenes, where the trainees learned methods of subterfuge, mastering disguises, withstanding interrogations, and crossing into hostile territory without being detected.


Class 11 is a fascinating and moving portrait of an extraordinary group of Americans with the courage and resolve to make a difference in the war on terror.


BONUS AUDIO: Exclusive Author Interview


"The classic movie interpretation of the spy world doesn't really reflect chasing Al Qaeda across the Afghan frontier."

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 10, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400122264
      • File size: 309313 KB
      • Duration: 10:44:24

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      If you've ever wanted to know what a spy-in-training goes through, listen in on Waters's description of surveillance runs, mock arrests, dead-drop arrangements, and "The Farm," the CIA's hidden facility in Virginia. Waters, like many others, volunteered after 9/11, even though he had to leave his new wife in Florida. Patrick Lawlor reads the memoir with enthusiasm and clarity. He enlivens conversations and descriptions of Waters's instructors and fellow trainees. The author's persistent tone of cheeriness is at odds with the deadly seriousness of his mission but reflects the positive attitude he brought to the rigors of the program. An author interview completes this informative package. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 30, 2006
      In the surge of patriotism following 9/11, Waters joined the CIA's elite clandestine service program, whose grueling, year-long training course the first-time 37-year-old author and former private consultant for intelligence collection describes (with some details omitted or changed) in this lively account. Deployed in Washington, D.C., he and hundreds of colleagues practiced surveillance detection and rehearsed secret drop-offs and techniques for meeting foreign agents without attracting attention. In realistic simulations, they learned to assume a false identity, then withstand interrogation designed to trip them up, how to pick out amenable foreigners at diplomatic parties and persuade them to betray their country. Waters mixes these details with sketches of classmates and their hijinks, portraits (not always flattering) of instructors, grumbling about CIA politics and ongoing difficulties with his new wife, who supported his career choice but chafed at his long absences. Publication of this book is proceeding despite Waters's unresolved lawsuit against the CIA Review Board, which approved the book then reversed itself under the Porter Goss administration. The CIA scandals that the patriotic author mentions in passing are public knowledge, and his criticism of the Agency is outweighed by praise. The end result is only mildly controversial but rarely dull.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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