Espionage and secret services Books

Book SynopsisThe CIA, the KGB, MI5, Mossad, Boss, Savak, Dina - the names read like a rollcall of the seamier side of history in the years following the Second World War. Today the Cold War is dead; there are fewer dictatorships; and 9/11 has created a whole new raison d'etre for covert action. This book explains how the war on terrorism provides a wholly new context for the murky world secret services and intelligence agencies operate in, and describes in detail how ultra-modern new technologies have vastly increased their power to spy abroad and eavesdrop at home. This up-to-date account raises important issues, including the new roles the secret services have found for themselves as they target 'rogue states', 'the war on drugs', and 'terrorists'. Most important of all, its authors explore the unsolved contradiction between the world of these secretive and unaccountable agencies operating on the fringes of the law, and the requirements of a free and democratic society. There is, they conclude, 'no easy walk to freedom'.Table of Contents Introduction: Intelligence after 9-11 - A New Internationalism? Defining the Threat After the Berlin Wall Intelligence Agencies Today So, Why is the Issue of Intelligence and Security Still Important? Part I: 'Terrorism' - The Dark Side of Globalisation 1. Terrorism and Intelligence - Siamese Twins? 2. Islam and the Myth of Confrontation 3. A New Internationalism? The US Experience Before and After 9-11 4. Western Europe - Rolling the New Bandwagon 5. Israel - 'Manipulating the Bush Doctrine' 6. A Clash of Bandwagons? Part II. Technologies of Surveillance 7. Overview 8. The Panoptic View - Satellite Surveillance on a Global Scale 9. Echelon - Who's on the Watch List? 10. Encryption and 'Backdoors' 11. The Economic Backdoor - State Surveillance and the Private Sector 12. The Third World, Human Rights and the Internet 13. Intelligence and Law Enforcement - Breaking Down the Firewall 14. The Dark Glass - Into the Future Part III. US Intelligence: Back to the Future? 15. The Gulf War and After: Grasping the 'Unipolar Moment' 16. 'Redefining National Security' - Clinton and the Rise of Economic Intelligence 17. Blowback 1: Iraq - 'Enormous Market Potential' 18. Blowback 2 - Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Legacy of William Casey 19. Latin America - Business as Usual? 20. Intelligence Without Policy or Policy Without Intelligence? Part IV: The European Union - New Purpose, Old Methods? 21. The UK 22. France 23. Germany and the European Union Part V: Russia: from KGB to FSB and Back Again? 24. The FSB: Two Coups and a Demise Exaggerated 25. The SVR - 'Still in the Big Four' 26. FAPSI Part VI: Israel: the Living Security Dilemma? 27. The Main Services 28. The Toll of 'Targeted Killings' 29. Mossad's Global Reach 30. The US Connection: 'Codenamed Jumbo' Part VII: Intelligence in the South: the Growth of the Virtual State 31. The Middle East: the Hidden Hand Syndrome 32. Syria: the Rise of the Mukhabarat State 33. Iraq: 'a Sort of Frenzy' 34. Palestine 35. India and Pakistan: the Democratic Deficit 36. Burma: Opposition and Micro-Management 37. South Africa: the Democratic Chance Part VIII: Concluding Perspectives: Knowledge, Power and Accountability 38. The New Iron Triangle 39. Intelligence and Accountability: Bucking the Trend? 40. Looking to the Future 41. Annex: How to Research Your Intelligence Agency Index

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Book SynopsisA wealthy lawyer, debonair ladies' man, consummate actor, and courageous gambler, Dusko Popov played the role of playboy amongst the top echelons of British society to become one of Germany's most trusted spies. In fact, he was one of Britain's most successful double agents, and, some say, the inspiration for James Bond. With full access to FBI and MI5 records, along with private family papers, his incredible adventures can now be told authoritatively for the first time. Recruited by the Abwehr in 1940, 27-year-old Popov immediately offered his services to the British. His code-name was Tricycle. Throughout the war he fed the Germans with a constant stream of military 'intelligence', all vetted by MI5, and came to be viewed as their most important and reliable agent in Britain. But when he was ordered by the Abwehr to the United States to report on the defences at Pearl Harbor, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, failed to heed his warnings, distrusting all spies and detesting Popov in particular, whom he considered to be 'a moral degenerate'. Facing the danger of exposure, arrest and execution on a daily basis, Tricycle went on to build up a network known as the Yugoslav Ring, which not only delivered a stream of false information to Berlin but also supplied vital intelligence to the Allies on German rocketry, strategy and security. After the war Dusko Popov was granted British citizenship and awarded an OBE. The presentation was made, appropriately, in the cocktail bar at the Ritz.Trade ReviewFor anybody interested in the spider's web of war-time deception, in which Popov lighted like an iridescent butterfly, this Tricycle is worth a ride -- Christopher Hudson * Daily Mail *As intriguing and nerve-wracking as [the] subject's career -- Jeremy Lewis * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisThis book reveals the development, strategy and extraordinary success of Britains secret services in Francos Spain during the Second World War. The main claim of this study is that British pressure, exercised above all through their intelligence services, led Franco to distance himself from the Axis cause and eventually embrace that of the Allies. Starting from a virtually non-existent base, the British rapidly built up a complex intelligence network in Spain that stretched from Corunna to Barcelona and from Bilbao to Gibraltar. As Spain was a non-belligerent, spy networks including those of the Germans, Italians, Portuguese and British proliferated in the Iberian Peninsula. Double-agents abounded within these networks; each one knew what the others were up to. The British exploited this two-way traffic to let Franco know that if he did not accede to their demands, they would back a restoration of the Bourbon monarchy under Don Juan. This pressure culminated in the meeting of 1943 between Franco and the British Ambassador, Sir Samuel Hoare, at the dictators country retreat in Galicia, the British underlining their purpose by flying warplanes close by the estate. Following this meeting, Franco almost immediately began to move away from the Axis powers and towards the Allies. The British swiftly dismantled their intelligence networks given that they had achieved their aim. Francos expulsion of the German naval forces from Spanish ports and the denazification of the regime explains the benevolent attitude of the Allies towards the Spanish dictatorship after the war. Throughout this whole process, the British secret service, as this extensively researched study uncovers, played a crucial role.

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Book SynopsisThis book reveals the development, strategy and extraordinary success of Britains secret services in Francos Spain during the Second World War. The main claim of this study is that British pressure, exercised above all through their intelligence services, led Franco to distance himself from the Axis cause and eventually embrace that of the Allies. Starting from a virtually non-existent base, the British rapidly built up a complex intelligence network in Spain that stretched from Corunna to Barcelona and from Bilbao to Gibraltar. As Spain was a non-belligerent, spy networks including those of the Germans, Italians, Portuguese and British proliferated in the Iberian Peninsula. Double-agents abounded within these networks; each one knew what the others were up to. The British exploited this two-way traffic to let Franco know that if he did not accede to their demands, they would back a restoration of the Bourbon monarchy under Don Juan. This pressure culminated in the meeting of 1943 between Franco and the British Ambassador, Sir Samuel Hoare, at the dictators country retreat in Galicia, the British underlining their purpose by flying warplanes close by the estate. Following this meeting, Franco almost immediately began to move away from the Axis powers and towards the Allies. The British swiftly dismantled their intelligence networks given that they had achieved their aim. Francos expulsion of the German naval forces from Spanish ports and the denazification of the regime explains the benevolent attitude of the Allies towards the Spanish dictatorship after the war. Throughout this whole process, the British secret service, as this extensively researched study uncovers, played a crucial role.

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Book SynopsisThis book is about the secret history of Europe. Drawing on the latest research by experts in the field, it opens up the hidden world of the Dangerous Trade: the spying and secret operations that made and broke European nations between 1500 and 1800. Espionage, blackmail and bribery were the Trade''s regular tools; assassination, provoking civil war and black propaganda were the ones used for `special'' occasions. But who were the practitioners of these dark arts? How were they recruited? What did they achieve? By exploring the lives of spies and secret agents such as Giacomo Casanova, Nathaniel Hooke, Melchor de Macanaz and many more, the book reveals the unknown story that underlies the making of modern Europe.

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Book SynopsisIn the 1920s, many in the British establishment became convinced that their way of life was being threatened by the new Soviet state. The British government launched vast spying operations in response, carrying out surveillance on not only suspect Russians, but British aristocrats, Bloomsbury artists, ordinary workers and even MPs. What they discovered had profound ramifications for the whole of British society, dividing the nation and laying the foundations for the later Cold War. Drawing on a wealth of recently declassified archives, The Secret Twenties tells the story of the first Soviet spies and the double agents in their midst, all of it set against the sparkling backdrop of cocktail-era London.

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of the 2003 Iraq War, the term 'intelligence failure' became synonymous with the Blair Government and how it had used intelligence to construct a case for war. This book examines British secret intelligence over the thirty years preceding its very public failings. From the Soviet Union to South Africa and Libya, Mark Wilkinson provides a detailed analysis and vivid account of the development and functioning of Britain's intelligence agencies in the struggle against the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. Based on archival research and interviews with key players in the intelligence establishment, he shows how a handful of chemical and biological weapons experts battled to make their voices heard. They had evidence that illegal weapons development was taking place but were continually rebuffed by adversaries in Whitehall. Fascinating, surprising and sometimes shocking, Before Intelligence Failed is a compelling account of what was known about chemical and biological weapons proliferation before the Iraq War.Trade Review'This is a remarkable book. It peels back successive layers of secrecy to shine a light onto the hidden world of intelligence and weapons of mass destruction. In doing so it reveals fascinating details about the secret world of espionage and the role intelligence plays in underpinning policy. I highly recommend it.' -- Michael S. Goodman, Pro-Dean for Innovation and Impact, King's College London and author of 'Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee: Volume I: From the Approach of the Second World War to the Suez Crisis''Mark Wilkinson is a rigorous researcher who has uncovered the history of spying on chemical and biological weapons, one of the most sensitive targets of British secret intelligence.' -- Richard J. Aldrich, Professor of International Security, University of Warwick and co-author of 'The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers''Drawing on impressive archival research and interviews with intelligence insiders, Mark Wilkinson puts the Iraqi WMD failure into historical perspective. In this highly original book, Wilkinson demonstrates the importance - and frailties - of spying on chemical and biological weapons.' -- Rory Cormac, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Nottingham and co-author of 'The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers'

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Book SynopsisBorn in Margilan, Central Asia on the eve of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Ruzi Nazar had one of the most exciting lives of the twentieth century. Charming, intellectually brilliant and passionately committed to the liberation of Central Asia from Russian rule, his life was a series of adventures and narrow escapes. He was successively a Soviet student, a Red Army officer, an officer in the German Turkestan Legion during World War II, a fugitive living in postwar Germany's underworld, and finally an immigrant to the United States who rose high in the CIA. Here he mixed with the powerful and famous, represented the US as a diplomat in Ankara and Bonn, and became an undercover agent in Iran after the hostage crisis of 1979-81. Nazar's foresight was formidable. He predicted that communism would collapse from within, briefing Reagan on the weakness of the Soviet system before the Reagan-Gorbachev talks. A Muslim who rejected Islamism, his warnings to the US government about the dangers of Islamic radicalism fell on deaf ears.This remarkable biography casts unique light on the lives of people caught up in the turmoil of the Soviet Union, World War II, the Cold War, and the struggle of nationalities deprived of their freedom by communism to regain independence.Trade Review'Ruzi Nazar led a truly remarkable life, and in A Dark Path To Freedom, Enver Altayli, one of Turkey's leading specialists on Central Asia and a friend of Nazar for more than half a century, has turned it into a breathtaking book.' * The Scotsman * 'A Dark Path to Freedom is one of the most amazing spy stories of recent times. It follows a fascinating journey from Stalin's Russia to Nazi Germany and onwards through the clandestine Cold War to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. This is essential reading for anyone interested in secret service in the Middle East and Central Asia.' -- Richard Aldrich, Leverhulme Major Research Fellow in Politics & International Relations, University of Warwick 'It is rare for individuals to have had such a varied life and to have played as important a role against a range of intelligence adversaries as did Ruzi Nazar. This is a thrilling story of one man's struggle against Nazism, Soviet communism, and radical Islam.' -- Michael Goodman, Professor in Intelligence and International Affairs, King's College London Department of War Studies 'What an extraordinary life! If one wrote this survival story as fiction it would be hard to believe. A Dark Path to Freedom is especially useful in its first-hand details of often reviled movements, from the Nazis to Turkey's far-right--though for Nazar himself, the decolonisation of Central Asia was paramount.' -- Hugh Poulton, author of Top-Hat, the Grey Wolf and the Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish Republic 'In A Dark Path to Freedom, Enver Altayli captures the sweep of history through the remarkable life of Ruzi Nazar, taking the reader on a lively journey from Central Asia on the eve of World War II, to the horror of that conflict, the intrigue of the ensuing Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union.' -- Benjamin Fortna, Director of the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona

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Book SynopsisPaul Dukes was sent into Russia in 1918, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution. His role was to keep the British spy networks in place during the "Red Terror", when the Cheka secret police were killing large numbers of opponents of the communist regime. Dukes operated under a variety of covers, the most daring of which was as a member of the Cheka itself. On his return the British government publicised his role to prove their case against the Bolsheviks, knighting him publicly and awarding him the Victoria Cross.

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Book SynopsisFirst World War espionage was a fascinating and dangerous affair, spawning widespread paranoia in its clandestine wake. The hysteria of the age, stoked by those within the British establishment who sought to manipulate popular panic, meant there was no shortage of suspects. Exaggerated claims were rife: some 80,000 Germans were supposedly hidden all over Britain, just waiting for an impending (and imagined) invasion. No one could be trusted - Against this backdrop, as head of Scotland Yard's Criminal Investigation Department, it was Basil Thomson's responsibility to hunt, arrest and interrogate the potential German spies identifi ed by the nascent British intelligence services. Thomson's story is an extraordinary compendium of sleuthing and secrets from a real-life Sherlock Holmes, following the trails of the many specimens he tracked, including the famous dancer, courtesan and spy, Mata Hari. Yet his activities gained him enemies, as did his criticism of British intelligence, his ambition to control MI5 and his efforts to root out left-wing revolutionaries - which would ultimately prove to be the undoing of his career. Odd People is the insightful and wittily observed account of Thomson's incomparably exciting job, offering us a rare glimpse into the dizzying world of spies and the mind of the detective charged with foiling their elaborate plots. The Dialogue Espionage Classics series began in 2010 with the purpose of bringing back classic out-of-print spy stories that should never be forgotten. From the Great War to the Cold War, from the French Resistance to the Cambridge Five, from Special Operations to Bletchley Park, this fascinating spy history series includes some of the best military, espionage and adventure stories ever told.

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Book SynopsisWhile many now fear a looming war with Iran, few know that this war is already raging and has been doing so for the past three decades. Starting from the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, intelligence expert Ronen Bergman details the complex array of political manoeuvring, assassination attempts, arms trading, and suicide bombs that have characterised the secret war between Iran and the intelligence services of Israel and the United States. Drawing on interviews with a plethora of intelligence agents from all sides, this is a riveting exploration of the growing influence of Iran in the Middle East, and the covert activities of the CIA and Mossad to tackle Iran and its political ambitions.Trade Review“An enthralling read" * The Economist *"Thoroughly researched and persuasively argued." * Publishers Weekly *"Ronen Bergman has managed to pull off that much-vaunted trick, beloved of blurb-writers, of making a serious ivestigative boook read like a thriller." * Jewish Chronicle *

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Book SynopsisHistorian, Thomas Mahon, With the aid of a former FBI code breaker, Jim Gillogly, has spent the past few years breaking the IRA's secret communications code, used to pass messages back and forth between Ireland and America from the 1920s until th e1960s, the results are explosive.From discussions about mundane matters to considerations of deals with the USSR and China, the IRA letters delve into just about every matter concievable for a terrorist organisation. Some of the ideas are harebrained or cracked but some like the proposal to source gas for use in Ireland are dangerous and unnerving.With the eye of a historian and the tools of a professional code breaker, Thomas and Jim have together created a wonderful and engrossing read.

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Book SynopsisIn this completely revised and updated book, T. Ryle Dwyer, offers a fresh perspective on Collins' activities. With new information about his role in organising the IRB in London in his youth right through to his death in 1922, Dwyer's analysis supports the case for Collins as the chief architect of the Irish victory over the British Empire. Michael Collins co-ordinated the sweeping Sinn Féin election victory of 1918 and put structure on the organisation of the IRA. He was the prototype of the urban terrorist and the architect of the war against the Black and Tans. While many have questioned whether Collins ever fired a shot at an enemy of Ireland, he did order the deaths of people standing in his way, and he even advocated kidnapping a US President.

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Book SynopsisAlex Alexandrowicz spent 22 years in custody protesting his innocence. This book explains how something which began with a plea bargain in the belief that he would serve a 'short' sentence turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare. His 'Prison Chronicles' are placed in perspective by Professor David Wilson. The Longest Injustice contains the full story of Anthony Alexandrovich - known universally as 'Alex'. Principally, the book is about his 29-year fight against his conviction as a seventeen-year-old for aggravated burglary, wounding with intent, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Twenty-two of these years were spent in prison where Alex was a discretionary life sentenced prisoner, and where he steadfastly maintained his innocence. He continues to do so after release, and is taking his case through the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which was set up in 1995 to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice. Alex's own recollections are supplemented by analysis of the dilemma facing people in British prisons who are determined to maintain their innocence, and the book highlights the considerable disincentives and disadvantages to them of doing so. Authors Alex Alexandrowicz spent 22 years in some of Britain's most notorious gaols much of this time as a Category A high security prisoner. His Prison Chronicles are a first hand account in which he explains why he believes he was wrongly convicted (a matter currently with the Criminal Cases Review Commission) and vividly recreates his experiences of the early years following his arrest. Institutionalised by the system and apprehensive of the outside world he now lives alone in Milton Keynes where he continues the long fight to clear his name from a flat which has grown to resemble a prison cell. David Wilson is professor of criminology at the Centre for Criminal Justice Policy and Research at the University of Central England in Birmingham. A former prison governor, he is editor of the Howard Journal and a well-known author, broadcaster and presenter for TV and radio, including for the BBC, C4 and Sky Television. He has written three other books for Waterside Press: Prison(er) Education: Stories of Change and Transformation (with Ann Reuss) (2000) , Images of Incarceration: Representations of Prison in Film and Television Drama (with Sean O'Sullivan) (2004), and Serial Killers: Hunting Britons and Their Victims (2007).Table of ContentsPrisoner 789959 Alex Alexandrowicz; after the chronicles end; a descriptive outline; innocence and HMP Grendon; the law and lifers, release and the Criminal Cases Review Commission; cases cited in the text.

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Book SynopsisWhen David Morehouse - a highly decorated army officer - was hit by a stray bullet, he began to be plagued with visions and uncontrolled out-of-body experiences. As a consequence, he was recruited as a psychic spy for STARGATE, a highly classified programme of espionage instigated by the CIA and the US Defence Department. Trained to develop spiritual, clairvoyant capacities, he became one of a select band of 'remote viewers' in pursuit of previously unattainable political and military secrets. When Morehouse discovered that the next step in the top-secret programme was 'remote influencing' - turning 'viewers' like himself into deadly weapons - he rebelled. In his efforts to expose the programme, he and his family endured the full force of the US intelligence community's attempts to silence him. As the multi-million-dollar STARGATE scandal was exposed to the world, Morehouse himself became the enemy of the secret services...In Psychic Warrior one of STARGATE's 'viewers' finally reveals the extraordinary truth of this secret operation. Originally published in 1996, there is a continuing demand for David Morehouse's story in the U.K. Out of print for over a year, this new edition of Psychic Warrior features a new foreword by the author.Trade Review"David Morehouse is a courageous man with an extraordinary story that transcends time and space." - Nexus.

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Book SynopsisWhen Allied troops fell into enemy hands, one secret and ingenious branch of military intelligence was tasked with their rescue. M.I.9 created and supported a network of escape and evasion lines across war-torn Europe to ensure the safe return of Allied fighters. These escape lines were essential in the Total War against Nazi Germany. Every individual was vital to the fight, and failure wasn't an option. Published for the first time since its creation in 1942, this 'most secret' facsimile reveals the many marvellous escape aids created by M.I.9 to help Allied personnel both evade capture and escape from prisoner of war camps. From silk maps designed for concealment in garments to tiny radio receivers hidden in cigar boxes, these gadgets and inventions were the brainchild of Christopher Clayton Hutton – the eccentric M.I.9 inventor who inspired many of Q's creations in James Bond. Most Secret offers a rare look at the most highly classified and clandestine tools of British intelligence. An accompanying introduction uncovers the history of this secret volume and traces the origin and use of escape aids from their emergence in the First World War to their development and wider use in the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisThe astonishing, gripping and long-awaited inside story of an ordinary man who became an extraordinary spy.After years of living in semi-isolation, David Rupert speaks for the first time about how a trucker from New York ended up being recruited to the FBI and MI5 at one of the most crucial moments in British political history.Including shock revelations about Rupert's discoveries working within the Real IRA - such as sending plastic explosives and detonators, hidden inside toys, to a primary school in Donegal. Author Sean O'Driscoll tells the incredible story of David, 'The Big Yank', a 6ft7 American tourist who found himself at the centre of a chilling campaign of terror that targeted civilians, the forces and Prime Minister Tony Blair.Countless lives have been saved by David Rupert's decision to risk his neck working for years within one of the most brutal and ruthless terrorist organisations in the world - an organisation whose language of violence left women and children amongst the dead in the Omagh atrocity.An unprecedented bombing campaign was planned to destroy any hopes of a peace agreement. In a trial that rested entirely on the evidence of the 'Big Yank', those plans for ongoing bloodshed and an end to the Good Friday Agreement were brought to a halt.

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Book SynopsisThe astonishing, gripping and long-awaited inside story of an ordinary man who became an extraordinary spy.After years of living in semi-isolation, David Rupert speaks for the first time about how a trucker from New York ended up being recruited to the FBI and MI5 at one of the most crucial moments in British political history.Including shock revelations about Rupert's discoveries working within the Real IRA - such as sending plastic explosives and detonators, hidden inside toys, to a primary school in Donegal. Author Sean O'Driscoll tells the incredible story of David, 'The Big Yank', a 6ft7 American tourist who found himself at the centre of a chilling campaign of terror that targeted civilians, the forces and Prime Minister Tony Blair.Countless lives have been saved by David Rupert's decision to risk his neck working for years within one of the most brutal and ruthless terrorist organisations in the world - an organisation whose language of violence left women and children amongst the dead in the Omagh atrocity.An unprecedented bombing campaign was planned to destroy any hopes of a peace agreement. In a trial that rested entirely on the evidence of the 'Big Yank', those plans for ongoing bloodshed and an end to the Good Friday Agreement were brought to a halt.

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Book Synopsis'A thrilling account' Daily Mail'Thrilling and inspiring' Daily Mirror'Extraordinary bravery... made this woman one of WWII's most remarkable spies. That she survived the war was almost miraculous' TimeThe year is 1942, and World War II is in full swing.Odette Sansom decides to follow in her war hero father's footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. Five failed attempts and one plane crash later, she finally lands in occupied France to begin her mission.It is here that she meets her commanding officer Captain Peter Churchill. As they successfully complete mission after mission, Peter and Odette fall in love. All the while, they are being hunted by the cunning German secret police sergeant, Hugo Bleicher, who finally succeeds in capturing them.They are sent to Paris's Fresnes prison, and on to concentration camps in Germany, where they are starved, beaten, and tortured. But in the face of despair, they never give up hope, their love for each other, or the whereabouts of their colleagues.This is a portrait of true courage, patriotism and love amidst unimaginable horrors and degradation.Trade Review"Written in the style of a thriller, this is a thrilling account of the exploits of World War II's most highly decorated spy, Odette Sansom." Daily Mail"A nonfiction thriller." Wall Street Journal"Reading like a thrilling spy novel and the most exciting sort of non-fiction - well researched, well written, and fast-paced enough to keep the pages turning - this will interest fans of the history of espionage, World War II history, military history, women's history, and biography." Library Journal"With evident sympathy, Loftis tells a well-researched, novelistic story of a heroine and patriot… Swift and entertaining, Loftis's work reads less like a biography and more like a thriller."Publishers Weekly"A true-life thriller... Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger... A vivid history of wartime heroism."Kirkus Reviews"Extraordinary bravery... made this woman one of World War II's most remarkable spies. That she survived the war was almost miraculous." TIME"The stuff of classic World War II thrillers." Newsday"A story of sheer bravery and survival that should astound even an avid reader of military history. A splendid read about a splendid woman." Washington Times"How an 'ordinary' mom of three became Britain's most decorated WWII spy."New York Post"Continues the scholarly thriller style of Into the Lion's Mouth." Orlando Sentinel"Loftis gives Sansom the epic story her experience warrants, full of spycraft, complex and important missions, incredible feats of bravery, and love." CrimeReads"Fascinating... A page-turner, especially the final third of the book which provides a riveting account of the mayhem of the final days of WWII... Loftis's meticulous research is evident throughout." The Cipher Brief"Readers will not want to put this book down... A spy thriller instead of a dry biography." MilitaryPress.com"[A] fascinating story of resistance and romance." Daily Beast"Captivating. Odette was one helluva fighter. Loftis is one helluva writer, who tells her story like a novel. I'm calling it now: This will be a movie." South Coast Today"Code Name: Lise is impossible to put down. Suffused with romance, told with a novelist's eye for page - turning thrills and the historian's acumen for facts, Loftis brings to colorful life a hero for our time, Odette Sansom. Like Unbroken and Code Girls, Odette Sansom's story is epic, intensely personal, emotionally rich, and hard to forget." Doug Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of 12 Strong and In Harm's Way"An astonishing story of love, survival, and almost unimaginable courage. Code Name: Lise is non-fiction that reads like a thriller and will keep readers riveted." Tilar Mazzeo, New York Times bestselling author of Irena's Children"Code Name: Lise is a grand adventure, part thriller, part love story, and full of wonderful details about the tradecraft of wartime espionage and the bravery of unsung heroes. A remarkable achievement that does honour to its subject. I hope someone takes it to the big screen as it has everything." Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of The Switch and Judgment"Larry has a knack for finding untold stories that read more like fiction than fact, and he's done it again with Code Name: Lise. Having grown up reading about the Jedburgh teams - the forerunners of US Special Forces - I found the story riveting, not the least because it's true, and Larry's relentless research makes Odette Sansom's heroics leap off the page, putting her in the pantheon of our own Special Forces heroes." Brad Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of Daughter of War"Loftis delivers a tale of courage, daring, valour - and love - for the ages. Code Name: Lise is the closest history comes to a romance novel." Elizabeth Cobbs, New York Times bestselling author of The Hamilton Affair"Larry Loftis brings the past to life with a brilliantly researched and executed tale of one woman's unparalleled heroism in occupied France during World War II. A riveting true story of love, betrayal and sacrifice, as engaging as any thriller, and not to be missed." Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mission Critical"Larry Loftis has crafted a true thriller, a highly entertaining account of the most highly decorated spy of WWII. A great read."Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The First Wave and Avenue of Spies"Another masterpiece from Larry Loftis, the king of nonfiction thrillers. If you try just one nonfiction book this year, there's no question... it should be this one." The Real Book Spy"Loftis's detail of Sansom's life reads like a spy thriller, but with the research of a nonfiction narrative, covering one of the best stories of clandestine heroism during the Second World War." WeAreTheMighty.com"Loftis keeps the action going at the pace of a novel - escapes, torturous Gestapo interrogations, even a little romance - all based on documents and recorded interviews. The result is a complex, grey - area world, with loyalties shifting and turning on a dime." Beachcomber"This is a well written book, almost a romance novel, almost a horror story, almost a war story, that can leave the reader somewhat breathless. The author has that knack of shifting the emphasis onto another detail just when the narrative gets exciting. This enhances the book greatly... A cracking book from one end to the other." NB Magazine

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Book Synopsis‘A compelling real-life thriller, full of passion, free of writerly fuss, woven from the most intractable archival cat’s cradle imaginable.’ Simon Ings, The Telegraph The true story of a decade-long investigation that opens a new window onto Cold War espionage, CIA secrets, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Independent filmmaker Mary Haverstick thought she’d stumbled onto the project of a lifetime — a biopic of a little-known aviation legend whose story seemed to embody the hopeful spirit of the dawn of the space age. But after she received a mysterious warning from a government agent, Haverstick began to suspect that all was not as it seemed. What she found as she dug deeper was a darker story — a story of double identities and female spies, a tangle of intrigue that stretched from the fields of the Congo to the shores of Cuba, from the streets of Mexico City to the dark heart of the Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas. As Haverstick attempted to learn the truth directly from her subject in a cat-and-mouse game that stretched across a decade, she plunged deep into the CIA files of the 1950s and 60s. A Woman I Know brings vividly to life the duplicities of the Cold War intelligence game, a world where code names and doubletalk are the lingua franca of spies bent on seeking advantage by any means necessary. As Haverstick sheds light on a remarkable set of women whose high-stakes intelligence work has left its only traces in redacted files, she also discovers disturbing and shocking new clues about what really happened at Dealey Plaza in 1963. Offering new clues to the assassination and a vivid picture of women in mid-century intelligence, A Woman I Know is a gripping real-life thriller.Trade Review‘A cat-and-mouse search for a woman’s identity opens onto a shadowy corner of the assassination of John F. Kennedy … Jerrie Cobb’s fascinating life reveals her to be “a spy, an explorer, a gambler, an astronaut, an illusionist, a narcissist, and a con” — and, to say the least, a puzzle. Assassination buffs and students of spycraft will find this intriguing and endlessly enigmatic.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Mary Haverstick’s tale is troubling. It is made up of stories that fit together, but that end up making the whole a little opaque by dint of concealment and lies. However, the author spares no effort to unravel the truth from the lies throughout the many interviews she had with this fascinating woman … In any case, the personality of Jerrie Cobb is surprising, whimsical and romantic … We’ll leave it to the readers to discover this skein of intrigues that leads to Dallas. But anyway, this incredible lady deserved to be revealed with so much mastery and unexpected twists.’ * Livres Hebdo *‘An anxious, furious, forensic contribution to the study of the assassination of US president John F Kennedy … Haverstick is in earnest here, and has a memory like a filing system and a filing system like a vice. The least this book could possibly be is a compelling real-life thriller, full of passion, free of writerly fuss, woven from the most intractable archival cat’s cradle imaginable. That’s what you’ve got, even before you think to take it seriously — and I’ll bet the farm that you will. -- Simon Ings * The Telegraph *‘Fascinating … [Haverstick] distills a prodigious amount of research into a fast-moving story … As a fresh history of US espionage, A Woman I Know is an absorbing read.’ * The New York Times *‘Mary Haverstick … seems to have broken new ground … The seductive thing about her argument is that it ties together all the loose pieces and vexing puzzles to do with Oswald, the CIA, and Mexico City. She has avoided the many pitfalls of earlier conspiracy theories and brought forth abundant new evidence. And she did not set out to generate a conspiracy theory … She was driven unsuspecting to her conclusion.’ -- Paul Monk * The Australian *

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Book SynopsisAn intriguing look behind the scenes of British intelligence, charting Walter Bell's career in MI6 and MI5 spanning some of the most important geopolitical events in the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisDrugs as Weapons Against Us meticulously details how a group of opium-trafficking families came to form an American oligarchy and eventually achieved global dominance. This oligarchy helped fund the Nazi regime and then saved thousands of Nazis to work with the Central Intelligence Agency. CIA operations such as MK-Ultra pushed LSD and other drugs on leftist leaders and left-leaning populations at home and abroad. Evidence supports that this oligarchy further led the United States into its longest-running wars in the ideal areas for opium crops, while also massively funding wars in areas of coca plant abundance for cocaine production under the guise of a “war on drugs” that is actually the use of drugs as a war on us. Drugs as Weapons Against Us tells how scores of undercover U.S. Intelligence agents used drugs in the targeting of leftist leaders from SDS to the Black Panthers, Young Lords, Latin Kings, and the Occupy Movement. It also tells how they particularly targeted leftist musicians, including John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Tupac Shakur to promote drugs while later murdering them when they started sobering up and taking on more leftist activism. The book further uncovers the evidence that Intelligence agents dosed Paul Robeson with LSD, gave Mick Jagger his first hit of acid, hooked Janis Joplin on amphetamines, as well as manipulating Elvis Presley, Eminem, the Wu Tang Clan, and others.Trade Review"Both well-researched and an exhilarating read, Drugs as Weapons Against Us exposes the dark history of the state's use of drugs as both a tool of imperialism abroad and of social control at home." Kara Dellacioppa, chair of the Sociology Department, California State University; author, This Bridge Called Zapatismo ; editor, Cultural Politics and Resistance in the 21st Century"Well-documented . . . not just opinion . . . I'm really recommending people get this book and read it . . . I really encourage everybody to get online and order this book right away!" Joe Madison, talk radio host"In my first radio interview, Frank Zappa told me the CIA was distributing LSD to the hippies. [ Drugs as Weapons Against Us is] Unbelievable! Just a compelling story!" --Allan Handelman, Rock Talk"Awesome guest [John Potash]... is going out on a limb. This is a book that if you're interested in the manipulation of the population, you're going to want to get. This is the kind of book I just crave." --Joyce Riley, The Power Hour"[John Potash] has done a wonderful job of research and a wonderful job of presenting [his] facts." --Rob McConnell, The X Zone"When Lennon met semi-privately with media guru Marshall McLuhan in late 1969, McLuhan let Lennon know he was a 'useful fool,' and The Beatles were [used] for psychological warfare... in popularizing drugs. Lennon stormed out but came back a few hours later to learn more. [ Drugs as Weapons Against Us ] is exhilarating and well-researched... with startling revelations... definitely worth the read!" --Richard Syrett, The Conspiracy Show"The CIA have used drugs as weapons against Americans... to control people or pacify dissension against the official status quo--the government's war policies... We should not delude ourselves that U.S. Intelligence has repented and would never repeat these operations... Many people still look at the rapid rise of the hallucinogenic use among these popular Sixties rock stars such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix as positive contributions--I don't--to the Sixties idealism--It wasn't--about the world's possibility for peace, love and global cooperation--that's naïve. Nevertheless, we barely consider the possibility that such pacifist views were the intention of U.S. Intelligence agencies, and the CIA and its moneyed interests had a role in creating the Sixties subculture and [leading them to] dropping out and leaving behind radical dissent and protest. [John Potash has] covered so much in [his] research... we appreciate his work." --Gary Null, WBAI 99.5 FM"The book is amazing!" --David Clyde, The Wild Side 990AM WBOB, Rhode Island"I just got the book a couple days ago and I can't wait to read it. I really can't." --Bill LuMaye, WPTF, 680AM/850AM Raleigh, Duram, Chapel Hill, NC. Listed in Talkers magazine Top 250"I really think [ Drugs as Weapons Against Us ] is a fascinating compendium of... what the CIA was doing... regarding manipulating our minds... targeting a lot of famous celebrities, musicians. [John Potash is] an author I really recommend you read... definitely read Drugs as Weapons Against Us." --Sean Stone, Buzzsaw on The Lip TV

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Book SynopsisOn January 27, 2011, on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, US Government Security contractor Raymond Davis found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Defending himself, he shot and killed two men who were--depending upon who you ask--illiterate robbers or Pakistani intelligence agents. The violent confrontation quickly escalated into a diplomatic crisis, making front-page headlines all over the world and threatening to destroy American relationships with one of the world's most volatile nations. For 49 days, Davis was in Pakistani custody--interrogated, threatened, fearing for his future--as rumors flew and the State Department worked tirelessly to get him back. In this page-turning thriller, Davis reveals for the very first time what happened behind the scenes during his time in the Pakistani legal system. Davis's riveting first-person narrative is interspersed with never-before-revealed details of the secret political maneuvering and unlikely chain of events that led to his release.Trade Review"Reading Ray's account brought back a lot of memories about the difficult challenges he faced. The book is a tribute to those public servants like Ray who quietly do their job, put their lives on the line, and will do whatever is necessary to protect and defend their country. He is a silent patriot." —Leon E. Panetta, Chairman of The Panetta Institute for Public Policy

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Book SynopsisGripping, deeply researched, and authoritative, the history of one of the closest intelligence and security relationships in the world The Special Relationship between the United States and Britain is touted by politicians when it suits their purpose and, as frequently, dismissed as myth, not least by the media. Yet the truth is that the two countries are bound together more closely than either is to any other ally. In The Real Special Relationship, Michael Smith reveals how it all began, eighty years ago, when a top-secret visit by four American codebreakers to Bletchley Park in February 1941—ten months before the US entered World War II—marked the start of a close collaboration between the intellitence services of the two nations. When that war ended and the Cold War began, both sides recognized that the way they worked together to decode German and Japanese ciphers could be used to counter the Soviet threat. They laid the foundation for the behind-the-scenes intelligence sharing that has continued—despite rivalries among the services and occasional political conflict and public disputes between the two nations—through the collapse of the Soviet Union, 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to the threats of the present moment. Smith, who served in British military intelligence, brings together a fascinating range of characters, from Winston Churchill and Ian Fleming to John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Edward Snowden. Supported by in-depth interviews and a broad range of personal contacts in the intelligence community, he takes the reader into the workings of MI6, the CIA, the NSA, and all those who strive to keep us safe. Sir John Scarlett, former chief of MI6, has written the introduction, and Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and the NSA, has provided the foreword.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe first book ever written about FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover by a member of his personal staff—his former assistant, Paul Letersky—offers unprecedented, “clear-eyed and compelling” (Mark Olshaker, coauthor of Mindhunter) insight into an American legend.The 1960s and 1970s were arguably among America’s most turbulent post-Civil War decades. While the Vietnam War continued seemingly without end, protests and riots ravaged most cities, the Kennedys and MLK were assassinated, and corruption found its way to the highest levels of politics, culminating in Watergate. In 1965, at the beginning of the chaos, twenty-two-year-old Paul Letersky was assigned to assist the legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover who’d just turned seventy and had, by then, led the Bureau for an incredible forty-one years. Hoover was a rare and complex man who walked confidently among the most powerful. His personal privacy was more tightly guarded than the secret “files” he carefully collected—and that were so feared by politicians and celebrities. Through Letersky’s close working relationship with Hoover, and the trust and confidence he gained from Hoover’s most loyal senior assistant, Helen Gandy, Paul became one of the few able to enter the Director’s secretive—and sometimes perilous—world. Since Hoover’s death half a century ago, millions of words have been written about the man and hundreds of hours of TV dramas and A-list Hollywood films produced. But until now, there has been virtually no account from someone who, for a period of years, spent hours with the Director on a daily basis. Balanced, honest, and keenly observed, this “vivid, foibles-and-all portrait of the fabled scourge of gangsters, Klansmen, and communists” (The Wall Street Journal) sheds new light on one of the most powerful law enforcement figures in American history.Trade Review“There has never been an account quite like The Director…Letersky has mined his experience to draw a vivid, foibles-and-all portrait of the fabled scourge of gangsters, Klansmen, and communists.” —Wall Street Journal“[Recounts] Letersky’s years in the FBI’s innermost circles….A fly-on-the-wall portrait of interest to students of crime—and rumor.” —Kirkus Reviews“A fascinating and long overdue look, from the inner sanctum, at J. Edgar Hoover’s decades-spanning dictatorial grip on the FBI. Paul Letersky takes you deep inside the psyche of the man who knew all the secrets and played them like a card shark. With a fistful of aces, Hoover imposed his will while protecting his own mysterious inner life.” —Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent for NBC News and bestselling author of The Greatest Generation“There have been plenty of books about J. Edgar Hoover but this one brings new meaning to the term, ‘the devil is in the details’…. Letersky is a fine writer and storyteller and he told me things I never knew about the man—love him or hate him—who was a major figure in American history.” —Bob Schieffer, CBS News“Fascinating and engaging… Letersky brings to life a bygone era of G-Men, galoots, and molls—and, delightfully, Hoover's motherly gatekeeper “Miss Gandy,” who plays Moneypenny to the author's Bond.” —Chris Whipple, New York Times bestselling author of The Gatekeepers and The Spymasters“I have been writing about the FBI for a quarter century, and as a kid I even trick-or-treated at J. Edgar Hoover’s house. Even so, I discovered in former Special Agent Paul Letersky’s The Director new and fascinating insights...Neither a paean nor a hatchet job, this clear-eyed and compelling account of the author’s years with the director, followed by his adventures as a street agent, is a welcome contribution to the history of law enforcement and the culture of its most famous agency.” —Mark Olshaker, coauthor of Mindhunter, The Killer Across the Table, and The Killer’s Shadow“I entered the FBI under Mr. Hoover who turned out to be the best Director I served under in my twenty-seven years at the Bureau. This book is an honest and accurate portrayal of Hoover's personality and acts of kindness as well as the control he had over not just the FBI but politicians. A must read.” —Joe Pistone aka Donnie Brasco, former FBI Special Agent“Folksy and fascinating. Letersky had unusual personal access to Hoover and he documents many of his boss’ worst instincts and rigid eccentricities, but also debunks some of the pointless and nasty rumors.” —Sanford J. Ungar, former Director of Voice of America and host of “All Things Considered,” and author of FBI: An Uncensored Look Behind the Walls“For a span of decades that defies belief, J. Edgar Hoover wielded more power than any other lawman in American history. Paul Letersky’s rich eyewitness stories of a supercop who could be both steel-fisted and strangely soft makes this by far the most illuminating portrait of Hoover I’ve read.” —Don Brown, former prosecutor and bestselling author of Travesty of Justice“Though I worked for the FBI for a quarter century, I found many of the things Letersky talks about in The Director shockingly new, simply because no one dared speak them until now. The book rounds out what we know about J. Edgar Hoover. Yes, he was demanding, odd at times, secretive, and vindictive, but he was far more complex than most people imagine. Only could a person working by his side, who answered his phone and read his mail and dealt with his fits of pique and bursts of enthusiasm, give us this insight.” —Joe Navarro, former Special Agent and author of Three Minutes to Doomsday“Letersky draws back the curtain of history to offer a rare, cinematic glimpse into the psychology and motivation of the Bureau’s first Director, J. Edgar Hoover….A must read for anyone interested in the most celebrated of American law enforcement agencies.” —Robert K. Wittman, Founder of the FBI Art Crime Team and New York Times bestselling author of Priceless and The Devil’s Diary“Anyone interested in American history will find fascinating what the book reveals about ‘The Director’ and his agents. As a former member of Special Operations who learned to make maximum use of intel, I found entertaining what Letersky shows about the power of secrets.” —Tom Satterly, author of All Secure and, also, retired Delta Force operator whose life was portrayed in Black Hawk Down

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Book SynopsisDie Geschichte des MilitÃrischen Abschirmdienstes der Bundeswehr (MAD).

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Book SynopsisDie DDR und das Ministerium fÃr Staatssicherheit im Spiegel des internationalen Krisenjahrs 1968

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Book SynopsisIf the aim of intelligence services is to enable decision makers to take enlightened decisions, it might also be said that the objective of Intelligence Studies is to enable the general public to understand the intelligence process. For many years, however, scholars in the field could not select their sources or record footnotes, and, in Europe, intelligence service did their best to control what the public was told when it came to intelligence and security matters. Following 1989, this all changed. The Iron curtain fell and citizens in Central and Eastern Europe forced open the archives of the former intelligence and security services. Gradually, even Western European countries followed suit. As a consequence, Intelligence Studies in Europe experienced a new dawn. The annual Need to Know conferences were founded in 2011 to provide a platform in Europe for discussing foreign intelligence. The researchers who have presented their results here, many of whom are from Central and Eastern Europe, have made a critical contribution to the field. This is the first publication originating from the conference series and it gives the reader insights into a range of topics: from the Abu Nidal Organization in Poland and the Canadian embassy in Havana to Danish historiography and the presence of Czechoslovak agents in London. This volume and the Need to know conferences have embarked on a journey to better understand intelligence and promote cooperation between international Intelligence Studies scholars. Towards this end, it represents an exciting first step.

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Book SynopsisFrom a Partition-bloodied childhood in Lahore and New Delhi to his early years as a young intelligence officer.

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Book SynopsisHe is one of India''s most successful spymasters, his name synonymous with the Kashmir issue. His methods of engagement and accommodation with all people and perspectives from India''s most conflicted state are legendary. The author of two bestselling books, Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years (2014) and The Spy Chronicles: R&AW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace (2018), Dulat''s views on India, Pakistan and Kashmir are well known and sought after.

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Book Synopsis

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