King of Spies

The Dark Reign of America's Spymaster in Korea

By: Blaine Harden

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

The New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Camp 14 returns with the untold story of one of the most powerful spies in American history, shedding new light on the U.S. role in the Korean War, and its legacy

In 1946, master sergeant Donald Nichols was repairing jeeps on the sleepy island of Guam when he caught the eye of recruiters from the army's Counter Intelligence Corps. After just three months' training, he was sent to Korea, then considered a backwater and beneath the radar of MacArthur's Pacific Command. Though he lacked the pedigree of most U.S. spies—Nichols was a 7th grade dropout—he quickly metamorphosed from army mechanic to black ops phenomenon. He insinuated himself into the affections of America’s chosen puppet in South Korea, President Syngman Rhee, and became a pivotal player in the Korean War, warning months in advance about the North Korean invasion, breaking enemy codes, and identifying most of the targets destroyed by American bombs in North Korea.

But Nichols's triumphs had a dark side. Immersed in a world of torture and beheadings, he became a spymaster with his own secret base, his own covert army, and his own rules. He recruited agents from refugee camps and prisons, sending many to their deaths on reckless missions. His closeness to Rhee meant that he witnessed—and did nothing to stop or even report—the slaughter of tens of thousands of South Korean civilians in anticommunist purges. Nichols’s clandestine reign lasted for an astounding eleven years.

In this riveting book, Blaine Harden traces Nichols's unlikely rise and tragic ruin, from his birth in an operatically dysfunctional family in New Jersey to his sordid postwar decline, which began when the U.S. military sacked him in Korea, sent him to an air force psych ward in Florida, and subjected him—against his will—to months of electroshock therapy. But King of Spies is not just the story of one American spy. It is a groundbreaking work of narrative history that—at a time when North Korea is threatening the United States with long-range nuclear missiles—explains the origins of an intractable foreign policy mess.

Extremely Infomative

I rarely listen to the "included" audio books, especially those with fewer reviews but am so glad I did this time! I may not have believed all of it had I not previously listed to so many other books which actually confirmed many of the details told about in this book. I found the ending quite sad.

Reads like a Spy Novel!!

A brutal look into how Donald Nichols, an Air Force mechanic with a 7th grade education, became the most feared, controversial, reviled, and revered Spymaster in US military history! Not a feel-good story by far. Given an environment of unchecked power, and indiscretion, held an iron grip on subversion, and intelligence gathering before/during/after the Korean War. I enjoyed how the author toyed around with Nichols' proneness to hyperbole.
This book challenged my knowledge of the Korean War, and exactly how close the Soviet, and then Chinese backed North Korea pushed the US, and their many poor decisions to a crushing defeat. Thoroughly enjoyed this Audible book!

Great audio book if your into history and. war!

Awsome book that definitly keeps your attention and expounds on a man and his unique war experiences and history.

effing epic!

pretty much binged this entire book from start to finish and loved it. my retired dad taught English lit and isn't much into military history, but loved this book as well.

Such a wild untold story

Like most of the Korean War is forgotten about this untold chapter is such a wild and unusual part that has such a dark ending