Search results for ""author john hughes-wilson""

The secret world of military intelligence - written by a senior intelligence officerJohn Hughes-Wilson is a former intelligence officer and is ideally placed to reveal the secret history of military intelligence. He takes us 'behind the scenes' of military and political events from Elizabeth I to Osama bin Laden and the crisis in the Middle East.The book is divided into three parts. The first investigates some famous disasters when lack of intelligence was the decisive factor, e.g. Gallipoli and Dieppe. The second examines some equally famous examples of good intelligence being overlooked or ignored, e.g. the 'bridge too far' battle of Arnhem. The last part goes behind the scenes of some famous successes, from the capture of Slobodan Milosevic to the defeat of IRA bombing campaigns and the arrest of a spy ring at the heart of NATO.

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The killing of US President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963, sent a shockwave around the world. The charismatic young Democrat was seen as a beacon of hope in the West, but his liberal reforming policies had made him many powerful enemies at home.For sixty years, numerous theories have swirled around this key event in American - and world - history. Yet whatever the conclusions of the official Warren Report - that the President had been assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald - many people doubt that to be true. Indeed, President Nixon later admitted on tape that the report was 'a hoax committed on the American people.' John Hughes-Wilson, a former colonel in British Intelligence, has sifted through the millions of words and thousands of pieces of evidence, to put together an intelligence assessment of what really happened that dreadful high noon in Dallas in 1963.Reading this astounding book, no one can be in any doubt that JFK's death was not at the hands of a lone deranged gunman, but a deadly plot to remove a President who threatened vested interests at home and abroad.

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US President Harry Truman evidently understood the terrifying power of atomic weaponry, but no one could have realised its full potential when he ordered the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Those military attacks, along with the disasters at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear reactors, might spring to mind at the mention of nuclear destruction, but the majority of the events recorded in this book are entirely unknown to most people. This book records the facts - many of them still shrouded in secrecy - which show a worrying truth: we have teetered precariously on the brink of Armageddon far more frequently than the general public realises.Since that first and last atomic war in 1945, there have been a terrifying number of nuclear accidents and mishaps, from the careless or accidental to the genuinely intentional and only narrowly averted. Despite the catastrophic nature of any nuclear conflict, we have come to the very borders of such a situation eight times since the 1960s. These were potential conflicts, but there have been other accidents, such as the reactor meltdown at the nuclear generating plant at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979, or the 'Palomares Incident' in 1966, when a USAF B-52 bomber crashed after a mid-air collision, dropping four hydrogen bombs on Spanish soil . . .Eve of Destruction is a warning from recent history. It is a call to sit up and listen, and to take note of the very real danger of nuclear catastrophe. It is a timely and important book because, after all, the future of our planet has to concern us all.

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'A cracking good read... I will recommend this book to anyone' - Professor Richard Holmes, CBE 'The Falklands, Yom Kippur, Tet and Pearl Harbor? Avoidable intelligence blunders or much worse? Altogether a compelling read from someone who knows the business' - Nigel WestThis book is a professional military-intelligence officer's - and controversial insider's - view of some of the greatest intelligence blunders of recent history. It includes the serious developments in government misuse of intelligence in the US-led coalition's 2003 war with Iraq, as well as failures of intelligence in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in February 2022. Colonel John Hughes-Wilson analyses not just the events that conspire to cause disaster, but why crucial intelligence is so often ignored, misunderstood or spun by politicians and seasoned generals alike. This book analyses: how Hitler's intelligence staff misled him in a bid to outfox their Nazi Party rivals; the bureaucratic bungling behind Pearl Harbor; how in-fighting within American intelligence ensured they were taken off guard by the Viet Cong's 1968 Tet Offensive; how overconfidence, political interference and deception facilitated Egypt and Syria's 1973 surprise attack on Israel; why a handful of marines and a London taxicab were all Britain had to defend the Falklands; the mistaken intelligence that allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power until the second Iraq War of 2003; the truth behind the US failure to run a terrorist warning system before the 9/11 WTC bombing; and how governments are increasingly pressurising intelligence agencies to 'spin' a party-political line.

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What does it feel like to live a lie - and betray your country? A gripping history of secret intelligenceFrom France’s brilliant female impersonator and secret agent to the infamous Cambridge spy ring, John Hughes-Wilson offers a nerve-shredding insight into the work – and treacheries – of the spies who shaped history. From WWII’s cryptography to Elizabeth I and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the hidden hand of intelligence is exposed behind every critical decision.Written by an ex-intelligence officer, The Puppet Masters lifts the veil on the role of spying and intelligence in the great events of history with thrilling clarity. Perfect for readers of Ben Macintyre. ‘John Hughes-Wilson has a lively pen and an eye for a good anecdote… an enjoyable romp through world history’ The Sunday Telegraph‘A powerful book… there should be a well-thumbed copy of this book on every general’s bedside table…’ The Spectator

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The definitive history of the British soldiers executed by their own Army during the First World WarThree hundred and fifty-one men were executed by British Army firing squads between September 1914 and November 1920. By far the greatest number, 266 were shot for desertion in the face of the enemy. The executions continue to haunt the history of the war, with talk today of shell shock and posthumous pardons.Using material released from the Public Records Office and other sources, the authors reveal what really happened and place the story of these executions firmly in the context of the military, social and medical context of the period.

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