Overworld : The Life and Times of a Reluctant Spy

by Kolb, Larry J.

• ISBN13: 9781573222532
• ISBN10: 1573222534
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-07
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover

Summary

A vivid and gripping portrait of a spy at every stage of his life and career, from the son of a spymaster who became a spy himself. Larry Kolb was born into a house of spies. Raised all over the world as the son of a high-ranking American spymaster, Kolb was taught by his father to think, look, and listen like a spy. But when Kolb himself was recruited to join the CIA, he declined, choosing instead to pursue a career in business. He became, among other things, Muhammad Ali's agent, a role that turned out to be a circuitous route back to the world of espionage. At Ali's side, Kolb had invitations to the parties, palaces, boardrooms, and bedrooms-especially in the Middle East-of many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people. At one of those parties, Kolb befriended Adnan Khashoggi, then the richest man in the world, and the world's most prominent arms dealer; Kolb ended up marrying one of his daughters. Kolb's extraordinary access made him irresistible to legendary spymaster and CIA cofounder Miles Copeland. Beginning with secret negotiations with the Ayatollah Khomeini and a covert mission to Beirut with Ali to negotiate the release of an American hostage, Kolb found his way back to the family business, becoming Miles Copeland's eyes and ears and sometimes mouth in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Unlike any book before it, Overworldcaptures what it genuinely means and feels like to be a spy-from the practical to the emotional, revealing how the world of espionage and covert statecraft actually works-and exposing the dark heart of a life spent betraying confidences. In itself an adventure story of the highest order, Overworldreads like the best of John le Carré-but it's all true.

Author Biography

Larry J. Kolb was, until recently, stuck in a safe house in Florida with nothing to do but listen to the waves roll in, and put down on paper the extraordinary story of his life so far

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 1
The spy Who Loved me
Portrait of My Father Digging Up a Dead Baby	p. 7
The Fight	p. 22
Unter den Linden	p. 41
Dark Side of the Moon	p. 51
Portrait of My Father Combing His Hair	p. 62
The Inferno	p. 76
Paradise Regained	p. 97
Peers of the Realm
The Mortician's Comb	p. 117
Chapter Written Under Duress	p. 128
Alpes-Maritime	p. 143
Sophisticated Assassination	p. 152
Awaiting the Sheikh in the Garden of Nipples	p. 165
The Game of Nations
The Dead Sea Scrolls	p. 181
The Robe	p. 195
Casino du Liban	p. 207
Ars Diplomatica	p. 230
Ars Poetica	p. 248
A Unified Theory of the Secret World	p. 276
Golconda	p. 299
Oxfordshire	p. 314
Faith Dealer	p. 322
My Traitor's Heart	p. 337
Sweet White Smoke
Portrait of the Author Assassinating the King of Manda	p. 359
The Sheikh's New Bracelet	p. 381
The Fat Man	p. 393
The Rules of Evidence	p. 403
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Kilo Oscar	p. 413
Notes from Underground	p. 418
Portrait of the Author as King	p. 435
Epilogue	p. 453
Acknowledgments	p. 463
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