So startling and dramatic are these memoirs, the entire history of World War II will have to be rewritten because of them. Gehlen's revelations cannot fail to embarrass governments, cast doubts on famous leaders and causes, frighteningly underscore the fantastic power of espionage in world affairs. The Service is the memoir of General Reinhard Gehlen, legendary spymaster-in-chief, Hitler's head of military espionage in Russia who, as the war ended, transferred his mammoth files and network of spies to the service of the United States, ultimately to become chief of the official West German intelligence agency.

An authoritative account of the long secret postwar relationship between General Reinhard, Hitler's chief of eastern front intelligence, and American intelligence.

"World War II combat veteran and longtime CIA officer James Critchfield tells the incredible story of how a handful of former members of the German Army General Staff, under the watchful eye of American intelligence, planned a postwar, national security system. At the heart of the activities he describes, Critchfield recounts details of the twin developments of a German intelligence service headed by Hitler's former chief of intelligence on the Eastern Front Reinhard Gehlen, and a German defense force headed by Hitler's former chief of operations Adolf Heusinger. These behind-the-scenes revelations will attract readers who enjoy good spy stories as well as historians of the period, for it has not been fully known until now the role played by the CIA or by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who secretly sponsored the men and their work. Known only as "Mr Marshall," Critchfield was the CIA officer in charge of the secret compound in Bavaria where Gehlen and Heusinger worked with their staffs to put the new intelligence and defense systems in place."