Mark M. Lowenthal wrote this book to fill a gap he had identified in instruction on the intelligence community. He found that many texts dealt in specifics, without first addressing the general background information Lowenthal's college students seemed to need most. He wrote this text as a starting point for his course material, to provide students the necessary foundation for further inquiry.

This book is full of facts -- fact after fact after fact to get the student of intelligence up to snuff. Eventually, all the declarative sentences start to wear on one's patience. Also, redundancy abounds: I'm surprised to find myself reading and re-reading the same material. Perhaps this repetition is intended as an instructive tool for students who may not read the book cover to cover... or maybe it's just a sign of a lazy editor. Either way, it adds an unfortunate degree of tedium to an otherwise interesting read.

The material itself is fascinating, and the prose is accessible for any reader, even those with no prior acquaintance with the subject. But the book is an instruction text more than it is a narrative, and as such, it's probably better suited for scholastic readers, rather than those with a casual interest in the subject. It may be an easy read, but it's not exactly light reading.