In the entrance of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, looms a huge marble wall into which 71 stars are carved, each representing an agent who has died in the line of duty; official CIA records only name 35 of them, however. Undeterred by claims that revealing the identities of these "nameless stars" might compromise national security, Ted Gup sorted through thousands of documents and interviewed more than 400 CIA officers in his attempt to bring their long-hidden stories to light. The result of this extraordinary work of investigation is a surprising glimpse at the real lives of secret agents, and an unprecedented history of the most compelling—and controversial—department of the U.S. government.