ɪɾ ˈɔːlsoʊ kˈʌvɚz ðə hˈɪstɚɹi ʌv ˈɛspɪənˌɑːʒ ɪnðə juːnˈaɪɾᵻd stˈeɪts fɹʌm jˈuːsᵻz ʌvðə fˈʊltən sˈɜːfɪstʊˈɛɹ ɹᵻkˈʌvɚɹi sˈɪstəm tə ɹᵻtɹˈiːv pˌɜːsənˈɛl ˌɔn ˈɑːɹktɪk ˈoʊʃən dɹˈɪft stˈeɪʃənz tʊ ˌɑːpɚɹˈeɪʃən nˈɔːɹθwʊdz, ɐ dᵻklˈæsᵻfˌaɪd jˌuːˈɛs mˈɪlətˌɛɹi plˈæn ðæt bˈæmfɚd dᵻskɹˈaɪbz æz ˈeɪ "sˈiːkɹᵻt ænd blˈʌdi wˈɔːɹ ʌv tˈɛɹɚɹˌɪzəm ɐɡˈɛnst ðɛɹ ˈoʊn kˈʌntɹi ɪn ˈɔːɹdɚ tə tɹˈɪk ðɪ ɐmˈɛɹɪkən pˈʌblɪk ˌɪntʊ səpˈoːɹɾɪŋ ɐn ˈɪlkənsˈiːvd wˈɔːɹ ðeɪ ɪntˈɛndᵻd tə lˈɑːntʃ ɐɡˈɛnst kjˈuːbə.
It also covers the history of espionage in the United States from uses of the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system to retrieve personnel on Arctic Ocean drift stations to Operation Northwoods, a declassified US military plan that Bamford describes as a "secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public into supporting an ill-conceived war they intended to launch against Cuba.