William R. Corson

William Raymond Corson (September 25, 1925 – July 17, 2000) was an American author and a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps. He was an expert on counterinsurgency warfare and served the majority of his career as an intelligence officer on special assignment with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Education and military service

Corson was born in Chicago.

He studied at the University of Chicago until he enlisted in the US Marine Corps on 12 December 1942. He saw combat on Guam and Bougainville. After the war, he pursued higher education again, obtaining a master's degree in business and economics from the University of Miami and later a doctorate in economics from American University.

In 1949, Corson joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a commissioned officer, and served in the Korean War in 1952. From 1953 to 1955 he was a student at the Naval Intelligence School in Washington, studying the Chinese language. He was later made a liaison officer in Hong Kong, serving from 1958 to 1962. New KGB: Engine of Soviet Power, with R. Crowley. New York: William Morrow & Co. (1985) The Armies of Ignorance: The Rise of the American Intelligence Empire. New York: Dial Press/J. Wade (1986) Widows, with Susan B. Trento and Joseph J. Trento. New York: Crown Publishers (1989)