I purchased (and actually read) this book quite some time ago (in fact, I find it quite helpful that Amazon lets me know that I purchased this book on November 22, 2008). Because of that, I almost bypassed SILENT WARFARE when I saw it on a reading list (The Redteamer’s Bookshelf, to be specific). But, since I’ve been in the habit of seeing what others have to say about books I HAVEN'T read, I decided to take a look at the reviews for SILENT WARFARE. I was actually surprised to see some of the negative reviews (and perhaps others might be, too … after all, the book does currently have a 4.2 rating out of 5). I thought the book was pretty good and very easy to read. In fact, I think I read it during Christmas holiday leave.
One reviewer mentioned that there wasn’t much here that you couldn’t get from “following the news.” I’m not quite sure what made the reviewer make that claim. If you just glance at the notes section for the book, you can’t help but think that this book was relatively well researched and its sources go well beyond just newspaper articles. I’ve read some books where practically every footnote or endnote is a reference to some newspaper article. That’s not the case with this book. Sources range from government reports and books written by other experts in the field to articles from industry journals that may or may not require you to buy a subscription (e.g., Studies in Intelligence, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, …). Some newspaper articles ARE cited. I think I saw one to an article in Foreign Affairs and another to a Washington Post article, but clearly this book isn’t just a compilation of news tidbits that one reader might have you believe. In fact, the notes for this book are some of the most detailed, yet most interesting notes I’ve seen in a book. In fact, I underlined and made notes on many of them.
My intention is not to make this post a thorough, top to bottom review of the book. It’s received 31 reviews in addition to what blurb may be found on the jacket cover, so I figure someone has probably already “been there, done that.” However, I do want to address another “critical” review of the book, which addresses its lack of thoroughness on counterintelligence. First of all, if you read the cover of the book, you’ll know that this is not a book specifically on counterintelligence. It is a book on intelligence, of which counterintelligence is merely one aspect. I don’t think the author tries to pretend otherwise. Granted, the book doesn’t go into great detail on some sections (its section on codes and ciphers comes to mind), but I do think it gives just enough to pique the interest of readers and whet their appetite for more. As for counterintelligence, specifically, the author does devote an entire chapter to it and I will admit that if you are already working in intelligence or have in the past, some of this will be very basic for you and/or be something you’ve heard repeated over and over again. Classification levels come to mind here and, more specifically, the issue of “overclassification." But even entry-level intelligence practitioners may find it interesting to know that:
“In recent years, the same issue [overclassification] has surfaced in other countries, particularly Great Britain, where the laws governing the release of governmental information are much stricter than in the United States.” (p. 102)
Lastly, allow me to point out another aspect of this book that I believe adds to its credibility as a book worthy of purchase for those interested in this topic: the number of editions for it. I haven’t read this anywhere, so I don’t know how valid this line of reasoning is, but it would seem to me that if a book is worthy of a second or third update/revision, there’s a reason for it. An author isn’t going to take the time to update and a publisher isn’t going to spend the money for reprint if a book isn’t selling. SILENT WARFARE, now in its third edition, clearly must be appealing to someone, somewhere … and for a reason.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2017
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Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2005
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Top reviews from other countries
MG
Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2018Verified Purchase
Antti Juhani Ylikoski
Intro to the world of intelligence
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2016Verified Purchase
andrew pettitt
delivered as advertised
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2015Verified Purchase
Matthew R.
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2015Verified Purchase
Alison Pentecost
Very thorough
Reviewed in Canada on May 23, 2019Verified Purchase
