斯坦菲爾德•特納，海軍上將，自1977年至1987年擔任美國中央情報總監，管理情報共同體與中情局。此前在海軍服役時，特納曾擔任美國第二艦隊的指揮官、美國海軍戰爭學院院長、北大西洋公約組織南翼總司令。他還是馬裏蘭大學研究生院公共政策係教員，目前居住在華盛頓。

In this "thoughtful, entertaining, and often insightful" book, a former CIA director explores the delicate give-and-take between the Oval Office and LangleyWith the disastrous intelligence failures of the last few years still fresh in Americans' minds -- and to all appearances still continuing -- there has never been a more urgent need for a book like this.In Burn Before Reading, Admiral Stansfield Turner, the CIA director under President Jimmy Carter, takes the reader inside the Beltway to examine the complicated, often strained relationships between presidents and their CIA chiefs. From FDR and "Wild Bill" Donovan to George W. Bush and George Tenet, twelve pairings are studied in these pages, and the results are eye-opening and provocative. Throughout, Turner offers a fascinating look into the machinery of intelligence gathering, revealing how personal and political issues often interfere with government busines -- and the nation's safety.