Frank Snepp went from a decorated CIA chief strategy analyst to public enemy of the intelligence establishment almost overnight. An Elizabethan literature student recruited into the agency in 1968, he served over five years in Saigon, analyzing North Vietnamese strategy and interrogating prisoners, before witnessing the chaotic fall of the city during Operation Frequent Wind.

Disgusted by the agency's refusal to rescue its Vietnamese allies or admit its failures, he resigned and published an unauthorized memoir, triggering a landmark Supreme Court case. This deep dive explores the heavy cost of conscience in the intelligence community and the blurry line between national security and free speech.

• How studying Shakespeare trained the pattern recognition he applied to intelligence analysis
• His attempt to report evacuation f ...