Spies of the Kaiser: German Covert Operations in Great Britain during the First World War Era (St. Antony's Series) [Hardcover]

Thomas Boghardt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2004 | ISBN-10: 1403932484 | ISBN-13: 978-1403932488

Spies of the Kaiser examines the scope and objectives of German covert operations in Great Britain before and during the First World War. It assesses the effect of German espionage on Anglo-German relations and discusses the extent to which the fear of German espionage in the United Kingdom shaped the British intelligence community in the early twentieth century. The study is based on original archival material, including hitherto unexploited German records and recently declassified British documents.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Boghardt is Historian at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. He was the 2002-2003 Thyssen Scholar at Georgetown University's BMW Center for German and European Studies, and has taught European history and international relations at Oxford and the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan. He received his PhD in modern history from the University of Oxford

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (December 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403932484
• ISBN-13: 978-1403932488
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,930,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly study of German intelligence operations against Great Britain before and during World War I, April 4, 2011

By 

E. Jaksetic (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spies of the Kaiser: German Covert Operations in Great Britain during the First World War Era (St. Antony's Series) (Hardcover)

The book provides an in-depth look at German intelligence operations directed against Great Britain before and during World War I.

Chapter 1 discusses the origins of German naval intelligence in the 1890s during the significant expansion of the Imperial German Navy, and the reasons why German naval intelligence viewed Great Britain as its primary target. Chapter 2 examines the origins of modern British counter-intelligence operations, with reference to British fears of possible foreign invasion, and British concerns about the potential threats posed to the British Empire by the foreign policy of Germany. Chapter 3 takes a look at Germany's espionage operations against Great Britain before World War I, and offers reasons why those operations were generally not very successful. Chapter 4 reviews British counter-espionage activities at the beginning of World War I, and concludes those activities were often an overreaction to the actual threats posed by German intelligence operations directed against Great Britain. Chapter 4 also includes a section that briefly discusses both British and German intelligence operations run out of neutral Netherlands. Chapter 5 surveys German intelligence operations in Great Britain from 1914 to 1917, assesses the effectiveness of British counter-intelligence against German intelligence operations, and compares and contrasts how Great Britain and Germany dealt with captured spies. Chapter 6 covers German covert operations (including sabotage) in Great Britain and other countries (including neutral countries). Chapter 7 ends the book with a look at the declining ability of German intelligence to function during 1917-1919, and its demise shortly after the Armistice.

The book is aimed at a scholarly or professional audience. But, the book is written in a style accessible to an interested reader not formally trained in history or intelligence matters.