
By All Means Available
Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy
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Narrated by:
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Michael G. Vickers
About this listen
A vivid insider's account of a life in intelligence, special operations, and strategy from the Cold War to the war with al-Qa’ida • "[An] illuminating and richly detailed memoir." —The New York Times Book Review
"Deeply insightful...A sweeping and breathtaking journey that gives the reader unprecedented access to the courage, sacrifice, and bravado of our nation’s finest warriors, in their finest hours." —Admiral William H. McRaven, author of Wisdom of the Bullfrog and #1 New York Times bestseller, Make Your Bed
In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA’s secret war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on the Soviets for their invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Vickers transformed the covert campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghan resistance win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to the end of the Cold War.
In By All Means Available, Vickers recounts his remarkable career, from his days as a Green Beret to his vision for victory in Afghanistan to his role in waging America’s war with al-Qa’ida at the highest levels of government. In captivating detail, he depicts his years in the Special Forces—including his training to parachute behind enemy lines with a backpack nuclear weapon in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe—and reveals how those experiences directly influenced his approach to shaping policy. Vickers has played a significant role in most of the military and intelligence operations of the past four decades, and he offers a deeply informed analysis of the greatest challenges facing America today, and in the decades ahead.
Riveting and illuminating, this is a rare and important insider’s account of the modern military and intelligence worlds at every level.
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Critic reviews
"[An] illuminating and richly detailed memoir . . . In America’s very long confrontation with stirred-up Islamists, Vickers became the nation’s pre-eminent silent warrior." —Andrew J. Bacevich, The New York Times Book Review
“Gripping reading, but also much more than that . . . Over a period of decades, Vickers formulated and executed policy toward almost every hotspot in the world. But this outstanding memoir is not merely an account of one official’s doings during his service. It is also a searching treatise on low-intensity warfare, counterterrorism, and covert action, along with a postmortem of key chapters of national-security policy, with judgments of American policymakers along the way . . . [By All Means Available] is about some things that, amid the deepening degradation of our political culture, have been lost: sacrifice, integrity, leadership, and patriotism.” –Gabriel Schoenfeld, Bulwark
"He was the CIA whiz kid in Charlie Wilson's War. His new book offers advice for the U.S. in Ukraine [and] reviews what the U.S. can learn from its past missteps and missed warnings in Afghanistan." —Nomaan Merchant, Associated Press
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- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Candace Pert stood at the dawn of three revolutions: the women’s movement, integrative health, and psychopharmacology. A scientific prodigy, she was 30 years ahead of her time, preaching a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to healthcare and medicine long before yoga hit the mainstream and “wellness” took root in our vernacular. Her bestselling book Molecules of Emotion made her the mother of the Mind/Body Revolution, launching a paradigm shift in medicine. Deepak Chopra credits her with creating his career, and he said as much in his eulogy at her funeral.
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Fascinating and important story!
- By Suzanne Duvalsaint on 11-16-23
By: Pamela Ryckman
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Out of the Darkness
- The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers
- By: Ian O'Connor
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Aaron Rodgers is among the two or three most talented players to ever hold the most important job in American team sports–quarterback. He also stands as the most mysterious and polarizing figure in the modern-day national pastime that is professional football. From his controversial Covid stance to his methods of spiritual awakening to his estrangement from his family to his high-profile romances to his devastating Achilles injury a mere four plays into his New York Jets career, Rodgers has long dominated the NFL’s news cycle.
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Author seems clueless as to what draws a lot of people to Aaron
- By Amy on 09-12-24
By: Ian O'Connor
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We Should Not Be Friends
- The Story of a Friendship
- By: Will Schwalbe
- Narrated by: Will Schwalbe
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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By the time Will Schwalbe was a junior at college, he had already met everyone he cared to know: the theater people, writers, visual artists and comp lit majors, and various other quirky characters including the handful of students who shared his own major, Latin and Greek. He also knew exactly who he wanted to avoid: the jocks. The jocks wore baseball caps and moved in packs, filling boisterous tables in the dining hall, and on the whole seemed to be another species entirely, one Will might encounter only at his own peril.
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Great read
- By Victoria L. on 03-22-24
By: Will Schwalbe
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Alexander at the End of the World
- The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
- By: Rachel Kousser
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had reached the pinnacle of success. Or so it seemed. He had defeated the Persian ruler Darius III and seized the capital city of Persepolis. His exhausted and traumatized soldiers were ready to return home to Macedonia. Yet Alexander had other plans. He was determined to continue heading east to Afghanistan in search of his ultimate goal: to reach the end of the world.
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The best perspective on a neglected second half of the story
- By Rachel Hirsch on 01-20-25
By: Rachel Kousser
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I Can't Save You
- A Memoir
- By: Anthony Chin-Quee
- Narrated by: Anthony Chin-Quee
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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At first glance, Anthony Chin-Quee looks like a traditional success story: a smart, ambitious kid who grew up to become a board-certified otolaryngologist—an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. Yet the truth is more complicated. As a self-described “not white, mostly Black, and questionably Asian man,” Chin-Quee knows that he doesn’t fit easily into any category. Growing up in a family with a background of depression, he struggled with relationships, feelings of inadequacy, and a fear of failure that made it difficult for him to forge lasting bonds with others.
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A great read by the author
- By A. Li on 04-10-23
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A Few Days Full of Trouble
- Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till
- By: Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., Christopher Benson
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1955, fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was lynched. That remains an undisputed fact of the case that ignited a flame within the Civil Rights Movement that has yet to be extinguished. Yet the rest of the details surrounding the event remain distorted by time and too many tellings. What does justice mean in the resolution of a cold case spanning nearly seven decades?
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Different perspective
- By Anonymous User on 01-25-23
By: Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., and others
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How She Did It
- Stories, Advice, and Secrets to Success from Fifty Legendary Distance Runners
- By: Molly Huddle, Sara Slattery
- Narrated by: Molly Huddle, Sara Slattery, Gisela Chipe, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The road from a high school track to an Olympic starting line is long and sometimes shadowy. Obstacles like chronic injuries, under-fueled nutrition, and coercive coaching can threaten to derail careers before they’ve even begun. Frustrated by seeing young talent burn out before reaching their potential, professional distance runner Molly Huddle and college coach Sara Slattery have teamed up with trailblazing running legends and sports medicine professionals to create an essential guide to reach your running potential.
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Buy the paper copy
- By Kara Abshire on 07-20-24
By: Molly Huddle, and others
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Hidden Mountains
- Survival and Reckoning After a Climb Gone Wrong
- By: Michael Wejchert
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2018, two couples set out on a climbing expedition to Alaska’s Hidden Mountains, one of the last wild ranges in North America. A rarity in modern climbing, the peaks were nearly unexplored and untouched, a place where few people had ever visited and granite spires still awaited first ascents. Inspired by generations of daring alpinists before them, the four climbers were now compelled to strike out into uncharted territory themselves.
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Disjointed Narrative and Confusing Storylines
- By Emily A. Brown on 08-16-24
By: Michael Wejchert
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Empireland
- How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain
- By: Sathnam Sanghera, Marlon James - foreword
- Narrated by: Homer Todiwala, Marlon James
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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A best-selling journalist’s illuminating tour through the hidden legacies and modern realities of British empire that exposes how much of the present-day United Kingdom is actually rooted in its colonial past. Empireland boldly and lucidly makes the case that in order to understand America, we must first understand British imperialism. Empire—whether British or otherwise—informs nearly everything we do.
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Important history
- By Maggie A. on 07-02-23
By: Sathnam Sanghera, and others
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Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island
- The World War II Battle That Saved Marine Corps Aviation
- By: John R Bruning
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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On August 20, 1942, twelve Marine dive-bombers and nineteen Marine fighters landed at Guadalcanal. Their mission: defeat the Japanese navy and prevent it from sending more men and supplies to "Starvation Island," as Guadalcanal was nicknamed. The Japanese were turning the remote, jungle-covered mountain in the south Solomon Islands into an air base from which they could attack the supply lines between the U.S. and Australia.
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A unique perspective
- By Item arrived onetime and has functioned perfectly. on 05-23-24
By: John R Bruning
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The Soldier's Truth
- Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II
- By: David Chrisinger
- Narrated by: David Chrisinger
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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At the height of his fame and influence during World War II, Ernie Pyle’s nationally syndicated dispatches from combat zones shaped America’s understanding of what the war felt like to ordinary soldiers, as no writer’s work had before or has since. From North Africa to Sicily, from the beaches of Anzio to the beaches of Normandy, and on to the war in the Pacific, where he would meet his end, Ernie Pyle had a genius for connecting with his beloved dogfaced grunts. In The Soldier's Truth, acclaimed writer David Chrisinger brings Pyle’s journey to vivid life in all its heroism and pathos.
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Truth
- By Dawn L. on 09-24-24
By: David Chrisinger
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Good Grief
- On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter
- By: E.B. Bartels
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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An unexpected, poignant, and personal account of loving and losing pets, exploring the singular bonds we have with our companion animals, and how to grieve them once they’ve passed.
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Much needed reflections.
- By Stephanie Joens on 11-07-24
By: E.B. Bartels
What listeners say about By All Means Available
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- William
- 09-19-23
Excellent Read
This guy managed to be involved in pretty much every disaster and triumph of the past 50 years. He offers very good insights and opinions, not all that are agréable.
He comments on leaders current and past.
There is a certain amount of well earned braggadocio. Enjoy
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1 person found this helpful
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- P B.
- 04-23-24
Outstanding
A superb and captivating read. I have recommended this as required reading to friends and family.
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- Brian V
- 07-21-24
fantastic life story
This is a very good life story and how one individual can make such a difference. Definitely worth listening to.
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- Gary
- 03-07-24
A must read on Special Forces/Special Operations, CIA & Intelligence
This is the best book I have ever read on Special Forces/Special Operation & Intelligence. The span of 40 years of service is detailed & enlightening. Truly impressive what one of many had accomplished. All Americans should read & be grateful that we have these type people protecting us. I served in Special Forces & Special Operations but learn many things I did not know.
Highly recommended.
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- nathan monahan
- 04-02-25
I don’t like being lied to.
Great story and excellent performance. Also I’m impressed and thankful for Mr Vickers service and selfless effort for the country however the political slant is gross and almost embarrassing. Clearly the political slant has been overshadowed by truth in recent months.
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- Michael Camardese
- 08-19-23
Filling in the details of recent covert activities
This book is an enthralling history of covert activities that shaped our recent history. Mr. Vickers not only had a ring side seat to history, he helped shape it as well. The stories were presented without bragging but with in depth reflection & acclimation to those who were also involved with him.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Janice
- 01-05-24
Great career! In many facets of government. Given a lot of responsibility in many positions.
Mr. Vickers gushing portrayal of Obama administration officials fits in line with all the other haters of conservative leaders. Hayden, Clapper, Brennan. Kind of like a broken record on that front. Stolen elections. Etc. but with the start of his career and his efforts in the 80’s was especially interesting.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Zk
- 09-21-24
Very well thought out and easy to follow
Great book! Highly recommend. The author has a logical sequence that he follows and is easy to grasp everything he’s trying to portray.
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- Rick Hardy
- 07-22-23
Amazing memoirs of an amazing American!
Loved it, all of it! Thank you Mike Vickers for your service as a Special Forces soldier, an intelligence community civilian, and as a senior executive in government. Thoroughly loved the audio book and have been recommending it to all at every turn. Having grown up during the latter parts of the Cold War, I found his recollections and context about those times fascinating and intriguing. Working in the DIB and in spaces in and around some of the post-9/11 topics he covered, I am truly grateful he was where he was, doing what he was doing, and that he took the time to collect, organize, and share his experiences and reflections. In the last sections of the book, I appreciate his wisdom and insights on what the United States needs to do moving forward, especially when considering the sheer magnitude of experience and varied perspectives that he has to draw from. Truly enjoyed the listen! Highly recommend this book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- BdrmnSprts
- 12-16-24
Started off as an intriguing story
The author had an amazing career but it shows how he was inevitably corrupted by the swamp. It’s scary to think that a majority of the “intelligence” community believes the BS he spouted in the book and went so far as to influence an election with a fake document erroneously attributed to Russia. Do not give this liar your time or money.
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2 people found this helpful