King of Spies

Blaine Harden’s King of Spies is jaw-droppingly good — a quirky, unlikely, thrilling true story of intrigue and daring and depravity told by a master of the genreDavid Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story

Blaine Harden has now produced a fascinating trilogy of stranger-than-fiction books about North Korea. His latest, King of Spies, is about a gay, middle school dropout who was one of the few U.S. officials to predict the outbreak of the Korean War and whose espionage activities had a profound impact on the course of the war. You’ve probably never heard of Donald Nichols, but you’ll never forget him after reading King of SpiesBarbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

A must-read for readers interested in Korea, the ­Korean War, or U.S. intelligence operationsLibrary Journal

King of Spies is a dark story of espionage and evil by a wild American military spymaster in Korea, a tale both revelatory and tragic. Blaine Harden's superb book throws open a long-ignored chapter in the Korean War; a compelling and disturbing read, not to be missedDavid E. Hoffman, author of The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal