The Crimes of Patriots is the story behind the story revealed in the Iran-contra investigation. 

It is a chilling glimpse into the workings of the secret government that has operated ruthlessly in this country and around the world for the last forty years, unchecked, answerable only to itself.  It is a masterpiece of investigative journalism that reveals the sordid truths shrouded within the "national security interest." 

A rifle blast blows off the head of an Australian banker in his Mercedes—and a tale of the whole Cold War begins to unravel.  The death of Frank Nugan exposes the massive fraud at the heart of his empire, the Nugan Hand Bank; but it also exposes the real power of the bank—a network of U.S. generals, admirals, and CIA men, including a former director of that organization.  As the colorful story of the Nugan Hand Bank unfolds, we learn that there have been many similar operations.  Patterns and eerie resonances emerge, and the names of those who later masterminded the Iran-contra fiasco lurk in the shadows cast by Nugan Hand: Clines, Shackley, Secord.  We are slowly brought to a greater truth. 

In his last book, Endless Enemies, Jonathan Kwitny showed how our anti-communist based foreign policy undermines American security.  Here he exposes at last the crimes committed against American citizens in pursuit of that policy.  He shows how some of the biggest names in American defense and intelligence were involved in an operation that promoted the dope trade, tax evasion, and gun running, and swindled American citizens, and citizens of allied countries, out of millions of dollars.  Kwitny lays out a mystery filled with questions whose answers—so far—have stayed locked in the U.S. government's vault of secrets. 

JONATHAN KWITNY, a Wall Street Journal reporter for sixteen years, is one of America's foremost journalists and holds the honor medal for career achievement from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.  His reporting exposed former Reagan adviser Richard Allen's conflicts of interest, and forced the resignation of Lynn Helms, Reagan's Federal Aviation administrator.  This is Jonathan Kwitny's sixth book.  His fifth, Endless Enemies: The Making of an Unfriendly World, was runnerup for the Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction in 1985.  Mr. Kwitny has lived or traveled in more than ninety countries.  A native of Indianapolis, he works from the Journal's New York bureau.