Customer Reviews

SPYING: The Secret History of History

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Make sure you have the proper expectation of this book. It is a picture book with no more than a paragraph or three on each page. The main emphasis is visual imagery. The accompanying paragraphs offer a thumbnail sketch of the individual or historical incident pictured, but the text does not go in depth. This is really more like an "Espionage for Dummies" type of introductory book on the topic. After thumbing through this book you might know the names "Oleg Penkovsky" and "Operation Overlord" but you would need additional texts to really understand the topics presented.

Great book! This book is a must for history and spy buffs. I was fascinated by the wealth of information presented in the book. The author takes the reader from Moses to present day Iraq and fills the pages with the exploits of the world's most influential spies. More importantly, the book details the cunning of their famous masters. The book is a fun read and is wonderfully illustrated with photos of the actors, spy gadgets, and secret messages.

Oddly enough, the author of this book ended up serving on the Scooter Libby trial in 2007, which convicted Mr. Libby of obstruction of justice and perjury during the investigation of the leak of CIA employee Valerie Plame.