Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

Kindle
$20.33 - $27.99

Available instantly

Hardcover
$180.00 - $183.98

Paperback
$29.56

Buy new:

$29.56

List Price: $36.95

Save: $7.39 (20%)

FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, September 1. Order within 7 hrs 45 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$29.56 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

ayvax

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

ayvax

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$29.56
& FREE Shipping. Details

Sold by: Amazon.com

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Follow the Author

Daniele Ganser

NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe (Contemporary Security Studies) 1st Edition

by Daniele Ganser (Author)

4.4 55 ratings

Part of: Contemporary Security Studies (129 books)

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$29.56","priceAmount":29.56,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"29","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"56","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"OZao2BYlpJ54qbFHqkn5j6YBh%2BVtyQfj2NnuhBOmfupU3fLYlTNr%2BwtM8F4NGKZmTuR8wb0QOCJMmD8CLaDPYGdCZ5QOlNEo9AtPPNJVrJIVwAVc0DnOUDjZxwpPNph2qV0L%2F9eNu2r5nb4XyWPUwnzgpyKEK0ZsvrMQOjV4L5MJsyP2Rr%2Fz3w%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

This fascinating new study shows how the CIA and the British secret service, in collaboration with the military alliance NATO and European military secret services, set up a network of clandestine anti-communist armies in Western Europe after World War II.

These secret soldiers were trained on remote islands in the Mediterranean and in unorthodox warfare centres in England and in the United States by the Green Berets and SAS Special Forces. The network was armed with explosives, machine guns and high-tech communication equipment hidden in underground bunkers and secret arms caches in forests and mountain meadows. In some countries the secret army linked up with right-wing terrorist who in a secret war engaged in political manipulation, harrassement of left wing parties, massacres, coup d'états and torture.

Codenamed 'Gladio' ('the sword'), the Italian secret army was exposed in 1990 by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to the Italian Senate, whereupon the press spoke of "The best kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II" (Observer, 18. November 1990) and observed that "The story seems straight from the pages of a political thriller." (The Times, November 19, 1990). Ever since, so-called 'stay-behind' armies of NATO have also been discovered in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Greece and Turkey. They were internationally coordinated by the Pentagon and NATO and had their last known meeting in the NATO-linked Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) in Brussels in October 1990.

ISBN-10

0714685003
ISBN-13

978-0714685007
Edition

1st
Publisher

Routledge
Publication date

December 22, 2004
Part of series

Contemporary Security Studies
Language

English
Dimensions

6.14 x 0.7 x 9.21 inches
Print length

336 pages
See all details

Frequently bought together

NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe (Contemporary Security Studies)

$29.56

Get it as soon as Friday, Sep 1

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia

$18.00

Get it as soon as Friday, Sep 1

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$21.49

Get it as soon as Friday, Sep 1

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Choose items to buy together.

Paul L. Williams
464
Paperback
28 offers from $16.18
Daniele Ganser
8
Hardcover
43 offers from $21.49
Richard Cottrell
107
Paperback
16 offers from $20.00
David Talbot
3,446
Paperback
57 offers from $9.56
Russ Baker
1,151
Paperback
98 offers from $4.98
Vincent Bevins
1,202
Paperback
58 offers from $13.08

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Much of this is appearing in English for the first time and it would be hard to overstate its importance.' - Lobster

About the Author

Daniele Ganser is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. He studied at Basel University in Switzerland, at Amsterdam University (UVA) in the Netherlands, and at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in England. He has published on the role of the United Nations in the Cuban conflict, Switzerland's path towards the United Nations and Switzerland's position outside the European Union.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (December 22, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0714685003
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0714685007
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.37 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.7 x 9.21 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #293,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #269 in Terrorism (Books)
- #360 in European Politics Books
- #527 in German History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 55 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Daniele Ganser

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

55 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Brad Rockwell

Excellent book on an overlooked aspect of European history

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

This shows how fascism is always an option in capitalist democracies. If Western Europe had turned left, the fascists would have come out with arms supplied by the CIA and others.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

J. Phalen

An extremely important story known to too few

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2008

Many people have become interested in Operation Gladio, the Bologna train station bombing, and other creepy aspects of the "Stay Behind" operations in Europe because of their ominous resonances with 9-11 and the politics of the "Neo-cons." For such people, this book is an excellent resource. It is far and away the most detailed discussion of the "Stay Behinds" I have seen, with plenty of bibliographic references for further study.

Basically, Gladio in Italy was only the most infamous example of an incredibly sinister, U.S./NATO-sponsored, extreme-right underground terrorist network active throughout Western Europe, largely consisting of unrepentant ex-Nazis & Nazi collaborators. As the years passed and the Soviets failed to provide the invasion that was the terrorists' raison d'etre, they got wrestless and started cooking up some "excitement" of their own. This real explanation behind Bologna and other incidents was thoroughly suppressed, especially in the U.S.

When you're done with this book, you will be well-informed concerning a chilling 20th century reality that most Americans have never heard of (that many don't care to hear of). Others of us would rather know, especially now. It seems REAL history doesn't match up too good with what they show us on thuh tee-vee. How odd!

This book also has some problems, thus the four stars. I believe Ganser wrote it in another language, and it was translated. Or Ganser wrote the English himself, just not very fluently. Either way, the prose is not engaging and is sometimes clumsy / unclear / grammatically bizarre.

Also, I bought this book at the[...] price because I wanted it very much, but I was appalled by this price for a paperback. Now I see it's "only"[...]. To me, this ridiculous price suggests suppression of an important-but-unwelcome topic, reminescent of the "privishing" Gerard Colby describes in Kristina Borjesson's 'Into the Buzzsaw.'

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Five stars, at least

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2016

Verified Purchase

You be like "five stars, you for real n-word". But trust me, this book will blow your mind. I kid you not, buy it.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Firenze Zen

Excellent information.

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2016

Verified Purchase

Important to know this. Excellent information.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Francesco Lovecchio

An interpretative key for the understanding of many European misteries

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2005

The author is a Swiss researcher who has nicely managed to document in one volume the modus operandi of a secret stay-behind army in Europe which operated since the end of WWII until the end of the Cold War. The book provides a complete documentation of the general patterns of this army across Europe that if taken in isolation would seem improbable. This super secret Army was operating in all Western European countries under different codenames and coordinated by the Allied Clandestine Committee and the Clandestine Planning Committee under the umbrella supervision of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) within the NATO and with the active supporting role of the Pentagon, CIA and the British MI6. The goal of this army was to operate behind enemy lines setting up resistance movements in case of a Soviet invasion of Europe. The secret army was clandestine and illegal in many countries and staffed by loyal anti-communist soldiers and rightwing activists recruited from various sectors, many with a past with the nazis or fascist armies during WWII. These armies have been employed also against the national communist (and in some case socialist) parties (Demagnetize Operation) under the complacence of domestic intelligence services with several suspect cases of assassinations and some documented cases of terrorist attacks against civilian targets, or in overturning democratically elected governments (Greece and Turkey) too dangerously left-leaning. Italy plays an important part in this story since Italy was theatre of several operations and last but not least, a former prime minister eventually admitted before Parliament in 1990, after the investigations of a judge, that a stay-behind army had operated since WWII, opening a Pandora's box of revelations. To each country are dedicated 18 specific chapters (UK, USA, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria) with specific documented episodes, that offers a clarifying picture of this super secret organization. Much remains to be discovered, but the merit of this book is to have put together scattered information in a well organized way. Recommended.

85 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

SmokeNMirrors

A damning inditement of our supposedly democratic system

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2009

Verified Purchase

A seminal work in which Danielle Ganser provides us with the coordinates to help us put things like the so-called War On Terror into their proper contexts. He shows that the majority (if not all) of the western European governments, supposedly democratic in nature, have engaged in activities which can only be described as undemocratic since the end of WWII. The necessity to "prevent the spread of Communism" is an invalid question when examined from the standpoint of the democratic will; for if the majority favour Communism then, theoretically, that is what democracy is all about. And there can be no question of degrees; democracy either exists or it does not. Like free speech, you cannot have democracy up to a point.

That there has since the 1990s been little public accountability (despite public acknowledgement that the activities did take place) raises crucially important questions about the validity of the War On Terror, British involvement in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, and many other similar occupations and internal conflicts as well as many of the events which have been attributed to "terrorists" over the past decade or so. For not only do we not know that the countries involved actually dismantled the stay-behind armies in the 1990s, we don't know which countries ran stay-behind armies in each others' countries - and whether these were likewise dismantled. In fact, the main protagonists (the UK & USA) have so far refused to comment.

Whilst many would argue that this is essential to protect national security, this argument, when examined logically, is baseless. For if we truly do live in democracies then no government should be above the law. And when supposedly-demoractic governments encourage - or turn a blind eye to - actions which are undeniably anti-democratic then it would seem to stand to reason that we actually don't live in democracies at all.

Danielle Ganser has added one more link into an ever-strengthening chain of evidence that democracy truly does not exist. A truly disturbing story; this is history that everyone should know.

13 people found this helpful

NzlWolf

Very important puzzle piece in the EU/NATO History

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 27, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is very important to gain a puzzle piece in the NATO story and also the start of the cold war.

A lot of things you thought where terror attacks or such in Europe for the last 50-60 years have given some light.
If you read this how and then see what it has become and the power it wields then you can see the start of the world we live in.

I was small when the bombings happend in Italy and remember seeing it on the news, by reading this puts things into a new light.

When you look at what NATO and the EU is now you will find out in this book some of the blood this new system we live under is build on.
I advise all people who want to know more and who want to discover the puzzle pieces this world has been build into this is a good book to start with and a important puzzle piece to know even though it is small, it ties some of the puzzle together.

One person found this helpful

Luc REYNAERT

There are few archbishops in espionage

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2007

Verified Purchase

D. Ganser's book is frightening. He shows how a secret stay-behind network (Gladio) that should only become effective after a Warschaw Pact invasion of Western Europe, became an all important factor in Western politics, after the wealthy and powerful understood that their real enemies were the strong communist parties in Western democracies and the political parties of the left.

As John Prados says in his excellent introduction: `in country after country, Gladio influenced, violently or not, political processes through fear and terrorism. Police and security services protected perpetrated crimes and antidemocratic `state sponsors' created terrorist networks.'

It was everything except a benign game of play. In Italy alone, the strategy of tension was responsible between 1969 and 1987, for 14591 (not less) acts of violence with political motivation. There and elsewhere, bombs exploded in Bologna, Munich and Istanbul leaving hundreds of dead and crippled.

Other dirty `tricks' were torture, coup d'états, election fraud, assassinations, disinformation, provocation and false flag operations. In one word, a destructive spiral of violence.

This warfare planning group was linked to NATO, the Pentagon and the CIA and operated completely outside democratic control from the nationally elected legislators. It made a joke of national sovereignty.

A must read for all those who try to understand the world we live in.

25 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Impressive, unique, fundamental

Reviewed in Italy on August 29, 2016

Verified Purchase

There are lots of very good reviews here, so I will not go into details

This book goes into details, documented, with lots of reference, and the author "splits" the entire SB beast country by country

Just one issue prevents the 5th star: I have bought the kindle edition and it's crammed with incredible typos.

I mean: entire paragraphs skipped, repetead, or wrongly presented - this prevents in at least 2 parts comprehension

but anyway: buy this. It's Europe history.

d

2 people found this helpful

Tom in London

So badly written as to be unreadable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2010

Verified Purchase

I was only able to struggle through several chapters of this massive book, desperately rereading almost every sentence several times in order to understand it, due to the author's execrably poor English, which is not only impossible to understand but causes him to make such absurd assertions as that (p.41) the British SOE (set up in 1940) was "a carbon copy of operation Gladio" (which did not come into existence until after 1945).

Linguistic difficulties aside, this book appears to be a relentless, exhaustive amassing of everything the author has been able to assemble from secondary sources: a very badly written, plodding, methodical exposition of all the available evidence, with no critical assessment of that evidence.

Deadly dull, unreadable, not for the faint-hearted, this disappointing (and expensive) book does a disservice to serious scholarship on an important subject.

11 people found this helpful

See more reviews

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $29.56

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe (Contemporary Security Studies) 1st Edition

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Daniele Ganser

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$29.56