When diplomacy fails and war is unwise, the president calls on the CIA's Special Activities Division (SAD), the most effective black operations force in the world. With unprecedented access to 42 men and women who worked on CIA covert operations from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day, the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain unveils a network of patriots working as killers and saboteurs. Annie Jacobsen also considers: is SAD a major asset to American military strength, or a betrayal of the nation's principles?