Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late senior U. S. Senator from N. Y. , here presents an eloquent & fascinating account of the development of secrecy as a mode of regulation in American government since World War I -- how it was born, how world events shaped it, how it has adversely affected momentous political decisions & events, & how it has eluded efforts to curtail or end it. Chapters: Secrecy as Regulation; The Experience of World War I; The Encounter with Communism; The Experience of World War II; The Bomb; A Culture of Secrecy; The Routinization of Secrecy; & A Culture of Openness. NY Times 1998 Notable Book of the Year. LA Times Book Review Best Nonfiction Book of 1998.