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A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century First Paperback Edition

by Jeffery T. Richelson (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0195113907

ISBN-10: 9780195113907

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Here is the ultimate inside history of twentieth-century intelligence gathering and covert activity. Unrivalled in its scope and as readable as any spy novel, A Century of Spies travels from tsarist Russia and the earliest days of the British Secret Service to the crises and uncertainties of today's post-Cold War world, offering an unsurpassed overview of the role of modern intelligence in every part of the globe. From spies and secret agents to the latest high-tech wizardry in signals and imagery surveillance, it provides fascinating, in-depth coverage of important operations of United States, British, Russian, Israeli, Chinese, German, and French intelligence services, and much more.
All the key elements of modern intelligence activity are here. An expert whose books have received high marks from the intelligence and military communities, Jeffrey Richelson covers the crucial role of spy technology from the days of Marconi and the Wright Brothers to today's dazzling array of Space Age satellites, aircraft, and ground stations. He provides vivid portraits of spymasters, spies, and defectors--including Sidney Reilly, Herbert Yardley, Kim Philby, James Angleton, Markus Wolf, Reinhard Gehlen, Vitaly Yurchenko, Jonathan Pollard, and many others. Richelson paints a colorful portrait of World War I's spies and sabateurs, and illuminates the secret maneuvering that helped determine the outcome of the war on land, at sea, and on the diplomatic front; he investigates the enormous importance of intelligence operations in both the European and Pacific theaters in World War II, from the work of Allied and Nazi agents to the "black magic" of U.S. and British code breakers; and
he gives us a complete overview of intelligence during the length of the Cold War, from superpower espionage and spy scandals to covert action and secret wars. A final chapter probes the still-evolving role of intelligence work in the new world of disorder and ethnic conflict, from the high-tech wonders of the Gulf War to the surprising involvement of the French government in industrial espionage.
Comprehensive, authoritative, and addictively readable, A Century of Spies is filled with new information on a variety of subjects--from the activities of the American Black Chamber in the 1920s to intelligence collection during the Cuban missile crisis to Soviet intelligence and covert action operations. It is an essential volume for anyone interested in military history, espionage and adventure, and world affairs.

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Customer reviews

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Rexine (Gina) Bryant

This book might be more appropriately entitled "20th Century Spying Techniques"

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2012

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I have been a lover of mystery books and intelligence gathering almost since I learned to read. As both a literature buff and history buff, delving into the evolution of intelligence gathering (coupled with the ever-expanding technology) became almost a "must". The book is well balanced, delving into the different modalities and technology used in intelligence gathering coding, decoding, and transmission. It also features brief vignettes on particular spies who were superlative in their vocation as well as some who were not so spectacular, and some who just had amusing (or irritating) idiosynchracies that gave a smile now and then.
It is, first and last, a HISTORY book -- and anyone who reads much history knows that it is very densely packed, and very slow reading. However the information one gleans about how technological advances which are not only applied to "improvement in living ease" but also in ever-more-difficult spying techniques will long be remembered.

Taking the transmission of intelligence from private courier to telephone, to "Marconi wireless" to various kinds of wireless technology and "bugs" all had both strong and weak points which needed to be addressed.

I gave it 4-stars because the reading is so dense and moves so slowly, and in order to follow one chain of events, other developments not used in this primary endeavor must be backtracked and introduced at a later time, so it does not lend itself to a strict chronlogy, but you find you are taking mini-backtracks exploring other methods as well.

All in all, it is a very good book, but a book to be read a little bit at a time, so that there is time to "digest" it. Three Cheers to Jeffrey Richelson, who had the patience to untangle it, and present a masterful book!!

5 people found this helpful

Andy in Washington

The worst kind of history book

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2012

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I am an avid reader of history, and especially of intelligence, spying, and military history. There are few books that I have started which I have not read to completion, but this was one of them. After about 150 pages, I realized that I wasn't enjoying the book, I wasn't learning much from it, and that I wasn't in a college course, so I could just stop reading. My criticisms, in no particular order:

* While Kindles seem plagued by typos, this book sets a new standard. The errors actually begin to distract from the work, although they do provide some comedy relief. My favorite- a chapter that chronicles that famous WWI event, "The Battle of the Mame". I think it was a Lucille Ball movie.

* A good portion of the book is a recitation of names, dates, places and events. Some of these are important, some should be footnotes to the footnotes.

* Much of the information presented is devoid of any context. As an example, one section of the book describes in detail the intelligence efforts behind the Battle of Jutland. These efforts, however, make little sense unless you have a fairly detailed appreciation of the naval tactics and geographical context of Jutland. I suspect few readers have such details committed to memory, and must, like me, resort to an external source for background material.

* The author makes sweeping statements, but does not back them up. For example, Richelson credits the Nazi intelligence services with a good portion of the credit for allowing Hitler's early successes in the Rhineland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. Probably true to some extent, but certainly an opinion that requires some argument and facts to support it.

* In other cases, Richelson seems shy about taking a position. Richard Sorge, a Soviet spy, provided Stalin with information that was likely the reason that the Soviets were able to concentrate the vast majority of their armies against the Germans. Without too much imagination, you could make a case that this was one of the turning points in the European Theater. While Sorge's story is told, there is but brief mention of the consequences.

So in summary I found the work to be mostly a collection of facts, with some opinions thrown in but not particularly well supported. As a narrative, it falls short as well, glancing over events whose details are truly interesting and important.

I'd say skip it.

10 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2012

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I found this book very informative on the evolution of spies. However, post cold war, this book is sparse and rather curt in it's analysis which comes to an abrupt halt during the Clinton Administration.

The book ends at about the 70% marker, with an additional 30% (100 pages) of references and citations. 434 pages for the book, 534 pages in all. I recommend it if you are interested in intelligence up to and during the cold war era.. but there is really nothing insightful after the 90's.

2 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2012

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The book is very informative, and I am enjoying learning about the functions of intelligence personnel in recent times.

And while I do suggest this book, it is sometimes difficult to read; very often, commas are missing - and this makes it difficult to follow along.

Here's one example:

"When Sorge arrived in Tokyo Stalin was still fearful of a Japanese attack."
Richelson, Jeffery T. (1995-08-17). A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century (p. 90). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer Radar240

Interesting Book

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2013

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This book was more like a text book that would be read on a college level. Like many books that we all dealt with in college it was interesting and boring throughout. I will not read it again as I do some books after a long period. Of course this is all IMHO.

2 people found this helpful

A lesson in History

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2013

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This book is a lesson in History I haven't seen any other place.There was a lot of under cover work going on in this world that we aren't aware of.It has been put together in this book in an understandable way.

A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2012

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The book is an excellent but very detailed account of the world of spies and Intelligence service. I can't put it down and can relate to the history, but the names, details and volume of facts are a little overwhelming.

2 people found this helpful

He does a good job covering a lot of info

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2016

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Found this to be well written and enjoyable to read, but man, a lot of info. He does a good job covering a lot of info.

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Hercules9966

Eine kurze Geschichte der Spionage

Reviewed in Germany on April 15, 2018

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Eine kurzatmige Darstellung der wichtigsten Personen und Organisationen, sowie technischen Entwicklungen in einem sehr alten Gewerbe. Besonders hervorgehoben wird hier die Entstehung der legendären Abteilung IIIb als Erbe des preußischen Generalfeldmarschalls Helmut von Moltke mit ihrer Bedeutung für die Entwicklungen vor und während des ersten Weltkrieges. Die Rekrutierung der berühmten niederländischen Sängerin Mata Hari (Deckname H21) und die Erschiessung durch die Franzosen wird leider nur kurz erwähnt. Das stümperhafte Bemühen der britischen und amerikanischen Geheimdienste mit dem dichten Netz deutscher Agenten mitzuhalten wird aber von Anfang an unterstrichen an Hand zahlloser Beispiele.

Der verbrecherische Ursprung der Chekisten als Handlanger von Lenin`s Bolschewiki mit ihrem mörderischen Gründer, dem polnisch-stämmigen "Felix", wird im Detail nachgezeichnet. Ebenso ihre gnadenlos-berüchtigten Standgerichte von vielen hunderttausend "kounterrevolutionären" russischen Bürgern, welche auf der Stelle vor Ort hingerichtet wurden ohne jegliche Verfahren. Das mangelnde Vertrauen Stalins in seine eigenen Agenten (besonders in die Warnungen von Richard Sorge, damals in Japan tätig) am Vorabend der Operation Barbarossa führte schliesslich zu hunderte Millionen Toten in Russland, so wie von Hitler geplant: kein besseres Beispiel für die unterschätzte Bedeutung der Kommunikationsintelligenz.

Auch am Beispiel von Pearl Harbor wird deutlich, wie die Alliierten erneut durch mangelnde Aufklärung in das große Disaster rutschten und dadurch die gesamte pazifische Flotte den Japanern auf einem silbernen Tablett servierten. Ein sehr wichtiges Buch, was allen Sparern und Kostenbegrenzern im militärischen Aufklärungsbereich zu denken geben sollte: es scheint, als ob jeder Rappen an dieser Stelle besser doppelt investiert werden sollte.

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Ashley

Century of spies

Reviewed in Canada on February 16, 2014

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This text was for my espionage class. It arrived in time and was in perfect condition! Interesting book to read as we'll!

Bigdaddybud

Les espions sont partout

Reviewed in France on August 15, 2003

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Découvrez les meilleures histoires d'espionnages du monde... pas de fiction, pas de strass ni de paillettes, ces histoires sont toutes vraies et nous étonnes par leur puissance. Il a décidement un monde incroyable qui existe loin de nos yeux... Un must des fans d'espionnage.

One person found this helpful

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Justin

Great book

Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very interesting book if you want to read about this topic

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