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A Rogue American Spy On The Korean Peninsula

Blaine Harden reveals the story of Donald Nichols, who went from repairing jeeps to becoming a pivotal player in the Korean War.

In his latest book, former Washington Post East Asia Bureau Chief Blaine Harden reveals the story of a rogue American spy who operated on the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War. Virtually unsupervised by the U.S. military, Air Force Major Donald Nichols planned and ran covert missions in a world of mass executions and torture for 11 years. And was then taken out of Korea in a straightjacket by American military authorities and forced to undergo months of electroshock in a military hospital, where Nichols said Air Force psychiatrists tried to “erase” his brain.

Blaine Hardenrecently spoke with us about the story of Donald Nichols he uncovers in "KING OF SPIES: The Dark Reign of an American Spymaster in Korea."