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Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a leading expert on the history of American espionage, here offers a lively and sweeping history of American secret intelligence from the founding of the nation through the present day. Jeffreys-Jones chronicles the extraordinary expansion of American secret intelligence from the 1790s, when George Washington set aside a discretionary fund for covert operations, to the beginning of the twenty-first century, when United States intelligence expenditure exceeds Russia's total defense budget. How did the American intelligence system evolve into such an enormous and costly bureaucracy? Jeffreys-Jones argues that hyperbolic claims and the impulse toward self-promotion have b...
During ancient times currency took varied forms, including beaver skins, bales of tobacco, and sea salt blocks. As art and technology advanced, monetary systems and currencies altered. Today, coins and currency provide an historical and archeological record of culture, religion, politics, and world leaders. This updated second edition offers numerous entries of historical commentary on the role of coins and currency in human events, politics, and the arts. It begins with the origin of coins in ancient Sumer, and follows advancements in metallurgy and minting machines to paper, plastic, and electronic moneys designed to ease trade and halt counterfeiting and other forms of theft. A timeline of monetary history is provided along with a glossary and bibliography. Numerous photographs of coins and bills provide an up-close look at beautiful and ingenious artifacts.