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Christopher Andrew

    July 23, 1941
    KGB : the inside story
    Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5
    Secret Intelligence
    Secret Service : The Making of the British Intelligence Community
    The Spy Who Came in From the Circus
    Comrade Kryuchkov's Instructions
    • Comrade Kryuchkov's Instructions

      • 260 pages
      • 10 hours of reading

      s/t: Top Secret Files on KGB Foreign Operations 1975-85During the decade that culminated in the rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, an avalanche of top secret documents poured out from KGB headquarters in Moscow to its residencies throughout the world. Oleg Gordievsky was a KGB colonel and Resident-designate in London in 1985 when he defected; it was later revealed that he had been working as a double agent for British intelligence since 1974, regularly risking his life by passing copies of KGB documents to the British. This volume is a revealing selection of this highly classified material, with an informative commentary by Christopher Andrew, based on joint analysis of the documents with Gordievsky. The book gives us a fascinating inside look at the workings and the thinking of the KGB, whose chairman was General V. A. Kryuchkov, later one of the leaders of the abortive coup against Gorbachev in August 1991. The documents range from somewhat comic instructions to sabotage the U.S. bicentennial to detailed methods for recruiting agents to orders concerning the KGB's largest peacetime intelligence operations, an attempt to secure information on President Reagan's (non-existent) preparations for a nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union. The book was first published in England in 1992 under the title Instructions from the Centre.

      Comrade Kryuchkov's Instructions
      4.2
    • In this incredible true story, Christopher Andrew, former official historian of MI5 and bestselling author, in collaboration with ex-KGB officers, of histories of Russian intelligence, brings to life one of the most surprising and fascinating careers in British espionage.

      The Spy Who Came in From the Circus
      4.0
    • Drawing on a wide range of sources, the "leading unofficial historian of British Intelligence" London Times has produced an account of that organization that is as entertaining as it is masterful. 6 pages of black-and-white photographs.

      Secret Service : The Making of the British Intelligence Community
      4.2
    • Secret Intelligence

      • 444 pages
      • 16 hours of reading

      This Reader in the field of intelligence studies focuses on policy, blending classic works on concepts and approaches with more recent essays dealing with current issues and the ongoing debate about the future of intelligence. The subject of secret intelligence has never enjoyed a higher profile. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, Madrid and London, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the missing WMD, public debates over prisoner interrogation, and new domestic security regulations have all contributed to make this a ‘hot’ subject over the past decade. Aiming to be more comprehensive than existing books, and to achieve truly international coverage of the field, this book provides key readings and supporting material for students and course convenors. It is divided into four main sections, each of which includes full summaries of each article, further reading suggestions, and student Comprising essays by leading scholars in the field, Secret Intelligence will be essential reading both for students and for anyone wishing to understand the current relationship between intelligence and policy-making.

      Secret Intelligence
      3.5
    • The book offers an in-depth exploration of MI5's pivotal role in 20th-century British history, drawing from newly accessible archives to provide insights into its operations since its establishment in 1909. It examines the agency's evolution and contributions to counterespionage and counterterrorism, highlighting significant events and decisions that shaped national security. By presenting previously hidden information, it sheds light on the complexities and challenges faced by the Security Service throughout its century-long existence.

      Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5
      3.9
    • KGB : the inside story

      • 24 pages
      • 1 hour of reading

      A history of Soviet intelligence service & the evolution of the KGB. An international bestseller critically acclaimed as "undoubtedly the most important book ever written on Soviet espionage."--San Francisco Chronicle

      KGB : the inside story
      4.0
    • The Mitrokhin Archive II

      The KGB and the World

      In 1992, MI6 exfiltrated Vasili Mitrokhin, the most senior activist in the KGB, who had been responsible for running the KGB archives. He had noted thousands of documents, described by the FBI as the greatest single cache of intelligence ever received by the West.' This archive resulted in many prosecutions, some of which are still ongoing. of Modern History at Cambridge and the world's leading intelligence scholar. Their first volume, The KGB in Europe and the West, revealed the extent of KGB penetration of what they called The Main Adversary and the existence of a previously unknown nuclear spy, Melita Norwood. The second volume, The KGB and the World, continues the revelations from the sublime to the absurd - which Third World leaders were in the pay of the KGB, precisely how extensive KGB penetration of foreign governments was, and how KGB agents were instructed to assess the spread of the influence of rival Chinese communism (by going round African capitals trying to count the changing number of posters of Mao Tse-tung in shops and public buildings...)

      The Mitrokhin Archive II
      4.0
    • 'The most comprehensive narrative of intelligence compiled ... unrivalled' Max Hastings, Sunday Times 'Captivating, insightful and masterly' Edward Lucas, The Times The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The first mention of espionage in world literature is in the Book of Exodus.'God sent out spies into the land of Canaan'. From there, Christopher Andrew traces the shift in the ancient world from divination to what we would recognize as attempts to gather real intelligence in the conduct of military operations, and considers how far ahead of the West - at that time - China and India were. He charts the development of intelligence and security operations and capacity through, amongst others, Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England, Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, right up to sophisticated modern activities of which he is the world's best-informed interpreter. What difference have security and intelligence operations made to course of history? Why have they so often forgotten by later practitioners? This fascinating book provides the answers.

      The secret world: A history of intelligence
      3.8
    • The Sword and The Shield

      • 700 pages
      • 25 hours of reading

      Describes a treasure trove of secret documents found by the FBI, and offers facts about every country in the world, as well as information that contributes to the history of the last century.

      The Sword and The Shield
      3.9
    • The Defence of the Realm

      The Authorized History of MI5

      This book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counter-espionage and counter-terrorism.

      The Defence of the Realm
      3.9