
Pay Any Price
Greed, Power, and Endless War
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Christopher Lane
-
By:
-
James Risen
About this listen
War corrupts. Endless war corrupts absolutely.
Ever since 9/11 America has fought an endless war on terror, seeking enemies everywhere and never promising peace. In Pay Any Price, James Risen reveals an extraordinary litany of the hidden costs of that war: from squandered and stolen dollars, to outrageous abuses of power, to wars on normalcy, decency, and truth. In the name of fighting terrorism, our government has done things every bit as shameful as its historic wartime abuses - and until this audiobook, it has worked very hard to cover them up.
Lincoln suspended habeas corpus. FDR authorized the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans. Presidents Bush and Obama now must face their own reckonings. Power corrupts, but it is endless war that corrupts absolutely.
©2014 James Risen (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reservedListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Last Honest Man
- The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys—and One Senator's Fight to Save Democracy
- By: James Risen, Thomas Risen - contributor
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Senator Frank Church of Idaho was an unlikely hero. He led congressional opposition to the Vietnam War and had become a scathing, radical critic of what he saw as American imperialism around the world. But he was still politically ambitious, privately yearning for acceptance from the foreign policy establishment that he hated and eager to run for president. Despite his flaws, Church would show historic strength in his greatest moment, when in the wake of Watergate he was suddenly tasked with investigating abuses of power in the intelligence community.
-
-
why do so many books have a liberal bias?
- By Doug Altrichter on 08-20-23
By: James Risen, and others
-
The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
-
-
A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
-
State of War
- The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
- By: James Risen
- Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history, a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate.
-
-
Critical to understanding how we got to Snowden.
- By Oak Nut on 06-27-14
By: James Risen
-
A Peace to End All Peace
- The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
- By: David Fromkin
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Middle East has long been a region of rival religions, ideologies, nationalisms, and ambitions. All of these conflicts are rooted in the region's political inheritance: the arrangements, unities, and divisions imposed by the Allies after the First World War. Author David Fromkin reveals how and why the Allies drew lines on an empty map that remade the geography and politics of the Middle East. Focusing on the formative years of 1914 to 1922, when all seemed possible, he delivers in this sweeping and magisterial book the definitive account of this defining time.
-
-
Still A Great Book On The Topic
- By Nostromo on 02-03-19
By: David Fromkin
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
An Elegant Defense
- The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives
- By: Matt Richtel
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system - the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind audiobook, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist.
-
-
Weak foundation, good conclusion
- By David on 03-24-19
By: Matt Richtel
-
The Last Honest Man
- The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys—and One Senator's Fight to Save Democracy
- By: James Risen, Thomas Risen - contributor
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Senator Frank Church of Idaho was an unlikely hero. He led congressional opposition to the Vietnam War and had become a scathing, radical critic of what he saw as American imperialism around the world. But he was still politically ambitious, privately yearning for acceptance from the foreign policy establishment that he hated and eager to run for president. Despite his flaws, Church would show historic strength in his greatest moment, when in the wake of Watergate he was suddenly tasked with investigating abuses of power in the intelligence community.
-
-
why do so many books have a liberal bias?
- By Doug Altrichter on 08-20-23
By: James Risen, and others
-
The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
-
-
A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
-
State of War
- The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
- By: James Risen
- Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history, a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate.
-
-
Critical to understanding how we got to Snowden.
- By Oak Nut on 06-27-14
By: James Risen
-
A Peace to End All Peace
- The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
- By: David Fromkin
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Middle East has long been a region of rival religions, ideologies, nationalisms, and ambitions. All of these conflicts are rooted in the region's political inheritance: the arrangements, unities, and divisions imposed by the Allies after the First World War. Author David Fromkin reveals how and why the Allies drew lines on an empty map that remade the geography and politics of the Middle East. Focusing on the formative years of 1914 to 1922, when all seemed possible, he delivers in this sweeping and magisterial book the definitive account of this defining time.
-
-
Still A Great Book On The Topic
- By Nostromo on 02-03-19
By: David Fromkin
-
The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
-
-
Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
-
An Elegant Defense
- The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives
- By: Matt Richtel
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system - the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind audiobook, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist.
-
-
Weak foundation, good conclusion
- By David on 03-24-19
By: Matt Richtel
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
The Death of a President
- November 20 - November 25, 1963
- By: William Manchester
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 33 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the world still reeled from the tragic and historic events of November 22, 1963, William Manchester set out, at the request of the Kennedy family, to create a detailed, authoritative record of President John F. Kennedy's death, including the days immediately preceding and following the assassination.
-
-
IMPORTANT HISTORIC BOOK
- By Jeff on 12-06-13
-
The Earth Is Weeping
- The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West
- By: Peter Cozzens
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the end of the Civil War, the nation recommenced its expansion onto traditional Indian tribal lands, setting off a wide-ranging conflict that would last more than three decades. In an exploration of the wars and negotiations that destroyed tribal ways of life even as they made possible the emergence of the modern United States, Peter Cozzens gives us both sides in comprehensive and singularly intimate detail.
-
-
Excellent detailed history of US conflict with Native Americans
- By White Thai on 06-24-17
By: Peter Cozzens
-
No Place to Hide
- Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State
- By: Glenn Greenwald
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the 29-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the agency’s widespread, systemic overreach proved to be some of the most explosive and consequential news in recent history, triggering a fierce debate over national security....
-
-
Best Read in Print Format
- By Alfredo Ramirez on 11-22-14
By: Glenn Greenwald
-
Imperial Twilight
- The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age
- By: Stephen R. Platt
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As one of the most potent turning points in the country's modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today's China seeks to put behind it. In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to "open" China even as China's imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country's decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China's advantage.
-
-
Balanced readable narrative about the Opium Wars
- By Carl A. Gallozzi on 09-05-18
By: Stephen R. Platt
-
Charlie Wilson's War
- The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
- By: George Crile
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the agency's history.
-
-
The REAL Story of the Middle East and the CIA
- By Dale on 08-24-04
By: George Crile
-
Thieves of State
- Why Corruption Threatens Global Security
- By: Sarah Chayes
- Narrated by: Sarah Chayes
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A former adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff explains how government's oldest problem is its greatest destabilizing force. Thieves of State argues that corruption is not just a nuisance; it is a major source of geopolitical turmoil. Since the late 1990s, corruption has grown such that some governments now resemble criminal gangs, provoking extreme reactions ranging from revolution to militant puritanical religion.
-
-
Fantastic insight
- By Keefer on 05-25-15
By: Sarah Chayes
-
Red Notice
- A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Red Notice is a searing expose of the wholesale whitewash by Russian authorities of Magnitsky's imprisonment and murder, slicing deep into the shadowy heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths.
-
-
This is an absolute "YES" as your next read/listen
- By William on 02-07-15
By: Bill Browder
-
The Spy Who Knew Too Much
- An Ex-CIA Officer’s Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a sunlit morning in September 1978, a sloop drifts aimlessly across the Chesapeake Bay. The cabin reveals signs of a struggle, and “classified” documents, live 9 mm cartridges, and a top-secret “burst” satellite communications transmitter are discovered aboard. But where is the boat’s owner, former CIA officer John Paisley? One man may hold the key to finding out. Tennent “Pete” Bagley was once a rising star in America’s spy aristocracy, and many expected he’d eventually become CIA director.
-
-
The, too long, story of an obsession
- By Tony on 10-30-22
By: Howard Blum
-
The Deep State
- How an Army of Bureaucrats Protected Barack Obama and Is Working to Destroy the Trump Agenda
- By: Jason Chaffetz
- Narrated by: Jason Chaffetz
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Former congressman and current Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz explains how we ended up with a politicized federal bureaucracy that actively works to promote the Democratic Party's agenda and undermine Donald Trump.
-
-
Good book
- By Mary Trotter on 11-04-18
By: Jason Chaffetz
-
A History of America in Ten Strikes
- By: Erik Loomis
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers’ strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about (and then provides an annotated list of the 150 most important moments in American labor history in the appendix).
-
-
great read
- By Perscors on 03-17-19
By: Erik Loomis
-
Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump
- By: Dan Bongino, D.C. McAllister, Matt Palumbo
- Narrated by: Dan Bongino
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The comprehensive story of how the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton campaign, and foreign entities tried to sabotage the Trump campaign in the 2016 presidential election.
-
-
Skeptical at Second #1 but a Believer at Second #2
- By Darryl on 10-09-18
By: Dan Bongino, and others
What listeners say about Pay Any Price
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Deb
- 02-15-15
A good collection of essays
This book was enjoyable but felt like a series of longer magazine articles. Good info nevertheless and worth reading. The narrator was solid and appropriate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chuck Autrey
- 01-19-15
Not sure we what to pay any price.
A very enlightening book that shows what we, as a nation, have become since 9/11. Many of the government actions mentioned should give us an uncomfortable cause for concern!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mohammed Aboalsaud
- 05-05-15
Good read, with too much details
The book certainly delivers on the big picture it set out to portray, but I found it too detailed for me to follow all along
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Reed
- 01-07-15
Excellent
A must read for anyone who wants to know how and why the U.S. Government does things in the national security realm. You'll be amazed at the things people do
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BRUCE
- 05-30-20
NSA Corruption of the Constitution
At first I found the extensive background perplexing. That it finally evolved to a satisfying, yea, thrilling ending made the slog all the more satisfying. Thank you James for paying the price.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William A. Swenson
- 08-31-17
Welcome to the real world
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
How to profit from war
Any additional comments?
I knew a lot of the stories in this book, but many I did not know. This is the story of war profiteers and horrible war management. It makes me sick that so many people see war as a business opportunity.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lian
- 05-13-15
Simply Mind-blowing
As an international relations major when in college, I thought I was savvy in American policies. But I was wrong. This book truly revealed what everyone ought to know about the pseudo democratic societythat we all live in. I would recommend to anyone who is remotely interested in politics and international relations.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Victoria Thompson
- 04-25-15
I WISH EVERYONE KNEW
The information in
This book is so valuable. Me. Risen is a national hero. I am horribly frustrated that his information
Is known
By so few people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Radio Hound
- 08-23-16
The Money Pit in D. C.
This book was, for me, a true eye-opener about the malfeasance and misuse of money and other government resources in D.C. And around the globe.
Having started out as Active Duty Military followed by working for other Federal Agencies throughout my career I and my associates constantly worried about where the money was coming from as well as where it was going, oftentimes leaving us to what has become a government adage: We must continue to do more with less until the day arises when we will be expected to do everything with nothing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DMgraphicGlass
- 01-05-15
Chronicles the security overreaction of 9/11
More importantly this book shows how this over concern with security has become the basis for "a permanent state of war on terrorism." As an entrenched centrist, I found some of the adjectives used to be a bit strident, but probably are really only a mild counterbalance to what I call "Cable News Theater" of both the left and the right. That, more than anything else, caused me to downgrade the overall rating, The story is important and extremely well written and preformed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful