The Secret World: A History of Intelligence“A comprehensive exploration of spying in its myriad forms from the Bible to the present day . . . Easy to dip into, and surprisingly funny.” —Ben Macintyre in The New York Times Book Review The history of espionage is far older than any of today’s intelligence agencies, yet largely forgotten. The codebreakers at Bletchley Park, the most successful WWII intelligence agency, were completely unaware that their predecessors had broken the codes of Napoleon during the Napoleonic wars and those of Spain before the Spanish Armada. Those who do not understand past mistakes are likely to repeat them. Intelligence is a prime example. At the outbreak of WWI, the grasp of intelligence shown by US President Woodrow Wilson and British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith was not in the same class as that of George Washington during the Revolutionary War and eighteenth-century British statesmen. In the first global history of espionage ever written, distinguished historian and New York Times–bestselling author Christopher Andrew recovers much of the lost intelligence history of the past three millennia—and shows us its continuing relevance. “Accurate, comprehensive, digestible and startling . . . a stellar achievement.” —Edward Lucas, The Times “For anyone with a taste for wide-ranging and shrewdly gossipy history—or, for that matter, for anyone with a taste for spy stories—Andrew’s is one of the most entertaining books of the past few years.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker “Remarkable for its scope and delightful for its unpredictable comparisons . . . there are important lessons for spymasters everywhere in this breathtaking and brilliant book.” —Richard J. Aldrich, Times Literary Supplement “Fans of Fleming and Furst will delight in this skillfully related true-fact side of the story.” —Kirkus Reviews “A crowning triumph of one of the most adventurous scholars of the security world.” —Financial Times Includes illustrations |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 6 | |
| 15 | |
From the Congress of Vienna to the 1848 Revolutions | |
From 1848 to the Death of Karl Marx | |
The Telegraph MidCentury Wars and the Great Game | |
Anarchists Revolutionaries and the Black Hand 18801914 | |
The Great Powers and Foreign Intelligence 18901909 | |
Intelligence and the Coming of the First World | |
From the Outbreak of War to the Zimmermann | |
From American Intervention to Allied Victory | |
Ivan the Terrible and the Origins of Russian State Security | |
Elizabeth I Walsingham and the Rise of English Intelligence | |
The Decline of Early Stuart and Spanish Intelligence and the Rise of the French | |
From the Civil War to the Popish Plot 13 Intelligence in the Era of the Sun King | |
From the Hanoverian Succession to the Seven Years | |
Intelligence and American Independence | |
The French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars | |
The Napoleonic Wars | |
SIGINT and HUMINT between the Wars | |
The Big Three and Second World War Intelligence | |
Intelligence and the Victory of the Grand Alliance | |
The Cold War and the Intelligence Superpowers | |
From the Cold War to 911 | |
TwentyFirstCentury Intelligence in LongTerm Perspective | |
Bibliography | |
Abbreviations Used in the Notes and References | |
Acknowledgements | |
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Common terms and phrases
agent Alexander ambassador American Andrew and Mitrokhin army Arthashastra assassination attack Battle became Black Chamber Bletchley Park Britain British intelligence cabinet noir Cambridge century Charles Cheka Churchill cipher claimed codebreaking Cold War commander conspiracy correspondence cryptanalysts decrypts despatches diplomatic embassy Emperor Empire enemy England English espionage forces foreign intelligence France French GC&CS George German Ibid Inquisition intelligence chief intelligence operations intercepted Ivan Jacobite James Japanese John John Wallis July King later letter London Lord Louis Marx military intelligence Mitrokhin Archive Moscow Napoleon naval NKVD ODNB Office Okhrana Oxford Paris plot police political President Prime Minister probably Queen Revolution revolutionary role Roman Room 40 Roosevelt royal Russian Second World Secret Service Secretary sent SIGINT Soviet Spanish spies St Petersburg Stalin success Sun Tzu surveillance telegrams Terror threat told Tsar University Press victory Wallis Walsingham Washington William wrote Zimmermann telegram