29 January 2008

Sherman Kent and the Board of National Estimates: Collected Essays

by Sherman Kent, Donald P. Steury (ed.)

From the publisher:
With each new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) generating headlines worldwide, it is important to know what the NIE was designed to do and what it cannot do.

Sherman Kent was chairman of the Board of National Estimates from 1952 - 1967 and these essays represent the essence of his thinking on estimate preparation as well as important historical background on the methodology used before and during his tenure. The foreword is by J. Kenneth McDonald, then (1994) chief of the CIA History Staff and the text includes some security-related redactions. This book, long out of print, is a foundational text in the study of intelligence analysis.

These collected essays by Sherman Kent were edited by Donald P. Steury and published in 1994 by the History Staff of the Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C.

Available online, this edition represents the first hardcopy edition since publication. It will be useful not only to students and practitioners of the craft of analysis but also to the consumers of intelligence estimates.