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Showing 121 - 140 of 1225 items
By David J. Betz. 2024
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 came to symbolize the dawn of a new era of openness and…
connectivity. Yet today, the world is ever more divided, demarcated, and – quite literally – fortified. We are living in a guarded age. Why and how has this happened? Where will it take us? In this book, David J. Betz explores the expansion of fortified physical infrastructure at every level of the global political economy. In cities, where security is increasingly ‘designed in’ to public buildings and spaces as they are reshaped to mitigate mass terror attacks. Within corporations, who are burying their electronic assets in deep underground caverns and behind the leaded walls of ex-nuclear war bunkers against a range of threats and feared contingencies. In many urban areas, where the default condition of civil life is to be walled, gated, watched, and guarded. Year after year, hundreds of miles of linear obstacles – walls, ditches, and watchtowers – are added to national borders. Practically everywhere you look there are signs of innovative fortification, often designed to be overlooked. The Guarded Age reveals the barriers which most have observed but few – until reading this book – have truly seen.By Liza Mundy. 2023
The acclaimed author of Code Girls returns with a “rip-roaring” (Steve Coll) history of three generations at the CIA, “electric…
with revelations” ( Booklist ) about the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spycraft, and tracked down Osama bin Laden. “This masterful book cements Liza Mundy as one of our foremost historians.”—Kate Moore, bestselling author of The Radium Girls One of Kirkus Reviews’ Most Anticipated Books of the Fall Created in the aftermath of World War II, the Central Intelligence Agency relied on women even as it attempted to channel their talents and keep them down. Women sent cables, made dead drops, and maintained the agency’s secrets. Despite discrimination—even because of it—women who started as clerks, secretaries, or unpaid spouses rose to become some of the CIA’s shrewdest operatives. They were unlikely spies—and that’s exactly what made them perfect for the role. Because women were seen as unimportant, pioneering female intelligence officers moved unnoticed around Bonn, Geneva, and Moscow, stealing secrets from under the noses of their KGB adversaries. Back at headquarters, women built the CIA’s critical archives—first by hand, then by computer. And they noticed things that the men at the top didn’t see. As the CIA faced an identity crisis after the Cold War, it was a close-knit network of female analysts who spotted the rising threat of al-Qaeda—though their warnings were repeatedly brushed aside. After the 9/11 attacks, more women joined the agency as a new job, targeter, came to prominence. They showed that data analysis would be crucial to the post-9/11 national security landscape—an effort that culminated spectacularly in the CIA’s successful effort to track down bin Laden in his Pakistani compound. Propelled by the same meticulous reporting and vivid storytelling that infused Code Girls , The Sisterhood offers a riveting new perspective on history, revealing how women at the CIA ushered in the modern intelligence age, and how their silencing made the world more dangerousBy Dayna Baer. 2011
" Ils se sont rencontrés à Sarajevo pendant la guerre civile. Lui, Robert Baer, auréolé de ses missions en Irak,…
en Iran, au Liban..., une légende de la CIA qui a obtenu la Career Intelligence Medal. Elle, Dayna Williamson, jeune officier de terrain, formée aux opérations de protection, sachant manier les armes, les explosifs, et s'évader dans les pires circonstances. En planque, à Athènes, Damas ou au Tadjikistan, en action à Beyrouth, Islamabad et à Nicosie... ou encore dans les couloirs de la CIA à Langley, ils vont finir par s'aimer et se marier. Voici le témoignage exceptionnel d'un couple d'espions qui raconte au jour le jour leur vie dans l'ombre. Il nous dévoile avec une multitude de détails, les opérations secrètes, les modalités d'exécutions, comment le jeu fonctionne véritablement et par quel miracle une histoire d'amour peut s'épanouir dans un contexte si singulier. " -- 4e de couvBy Rita Katz. 2003
"[...] L'infiltrée raconte à la première personne le destin d'une femme exceptionnelle. Devenue l'une des meilleures spécialistes de la question…
du terrorisme islamique, elle garde l'anonymat pour des raisons de sécurité. [...] Au péril de sa vie, elle se met à fréquenter les conférences islamiques afin d'y recueillir des témoignages sonores et des enregistrements vidéo, grâce à sa parfaite connaissance de la langue arabe et du monde de l'Islam. Elle pointe du doigt les dysfonctionnements des agences fédérales en montrant combien ni le FBI, ni le Département d'Etat n'ont tenu compte d'informations importantes qui leur ont pourtant été signalées à plusieurs reprises avant le drame du 11 septembre 2001. Enfin, elle infiltre divers groupes terroristes - Al-Qaïda, le Hezbollah et le Hamas - et dévoile plusieurs filières de financement, notamment celles qui mènent à de riches Saoudiens à travers des entreprises ou des organisations caritatives basées aux Etats-Unis. [...]" -- 4e de couvBy Lt. Col. Bill Riley. 2019
American Book Fest’s Best Book Awards Winner for Best Nonfiction Book of 2019 Military Writers Society of America Multiple Award-Winner:…
Founder’s Award for Standout Book of 2019 Gold Medal Award for Memoir category For readers of Educated and The Glass Castle, a moving new memoir about survival, family, and a humanizing insight into the individuals who fight the nation’s wars. As a child, he was raised in an unstable and violent home by a mother struggling with mental illness. An absent father with a firm belief in tough love left him with only his sister to understand or comfort him as they faced a home full of harshness, resentment, and physical abuse. As a man, he braved the war-torn landscapes of Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Having learned early from his father that only the strong survive, he enlisted in the Air Force after high school and began an impressive military career in intelligence analysis, communications, and supporting special operations, meeting incredible individuals along the way. In his time overseas he faced harsh realities of the politics of war, the consequences of military actions, and the challenge of attempting to rebuild a country while its own people are trying to kill you. Baghdaddy is Bill Riley’s memoir: an honest and colorful depiction of his journey through a turbulent youth and into a challenging adulthood. This very human account of living in some of the least humane environments delivers the message that no matter how different we seem, we are all trying to make the best of life and learn how to be the best versions of ourselves.By Stephen Wynn. 2020
This WWII espionage history reveals how a British counterintelligence program turned Nazi spies into valuable double agents.Far from the battlefields…
of the Second World War, a secret conflict of intelligence and counterintelligence was being waged. As German spies infiltrated the United Kingdom, they were captured by MI5—and offered a deal. Through the Double Cross System, they could turn on their own country and spy for the British. The Double Cross System and the spies it produced saved thousands of Allied lives. They even contributed to the success of the D-Day landings at Normandy. Double agents helped convince Nazi Germany that the Allied invasion of Europe would take place across the English Channel, at Calais. One double agent was so good at what he did that Germany awarded him the Iron Cross, whilst Britain made him a Member of the British Empire (MBE).By Amaryllis Fox. 2019
Las memorias de Amaryllis Fox cuentan la historia de sus diez años en la élite de la clandestinidad de las…
operaciones encubiertas de la CIA, en búsqueda de los terroristas más peligrosos del mundo a través de dieciséis países, a la vez que contrajo matrimonio y dio a luz a su hija. Best seller del New York Times y del Sunday Times. Amaryllis Fox cursaba el último año de Teología y Derecho Internacional en la Universidad de Oxford, cuando su mentor Daniel Pearl fue capturado y decapitado. Motivada por la brutalidad, Fox aplicó para un Master especializado en conflictos y terrorismo en la Georgetown School, donde creo un algoritmo para predecir, con una certeza misteriosa, las probabilidades de apariciones de células terroristas en cualquier ciudad alrededor del mundo. Fue reclutada de inmediato por la CIA con tan solo 21 años de edad.Su primera asignación fue la de estudiar y analizar cientos de cables clasificados de gobiernos extranjeros y sintetizar dicha información para los informes diarios para el Presidente de Estados Unidos. Su siguiente misión estuvo relacionada con el anti-terrorismo de Irak. A los 22 años fue sometida a un entrenamiento sobre operaciones avanzadas, fue enviada de Langley a «La Granja», donde vivió durante seis meses en un mundo simulado en el que aprendió el uso de armas, a escapar de los sitios más peligrosos del mundo, a soportar torturas y los mejores métodos para suicidarse en caso de que fuera capturada. Al final de dicho entrenamiento, fue enviada como espía bajo una tapadera no oficial de experta en comercio de arte, a infiltrarse en las redes terroristas de las áreas más remotas del Medio Este y Asia. Reseñas:«Se lee como si un personaje de John le Carré hubiera aterrizado en Come, Reza, Ama.»The New York Times «Genial. Fascinante, Fox escribe con maestría mientras trata de reconciliar su carrera como espía con la vida familiar. Una mirada dentro de la CIA de la que la agencia aún no está preparada para que la veas. Qué gran lectura.»The Washington Post«Un recuento fascinante de la década que la autora pasó arriesgando su vida dentro de la unidad más clandestina de la CIA.»People «Estas memorias se leen como una gran novela de espionaje.»Publishers Weekly (starred review) «Unlibro extraordinario en el que Fox describe con transparencia su vida como agente encubierta de la CIA.»Kirkus Reviews «Un apasionante relato de la vida real de una espía y una historia de formación y crecimiento personal. En ella llegamos a entender, más allá de heroísmos y llamadas de la patria, qué lleva a una persona a convertirse en espía.»Raquel Piñeiro, ICON, El País«Una apasionante aventura llena de secretos y mentiras, de matrimonios fallidos, de sangrientos atentados abortados in extremis, y que ahora ve la luz en el libro de memorias Encubierta. Mi vida al servicio de la CIA.» Telva «Para conocer un poco mejor a La Compañía.»Juan Bolea, El Periódico de Aragón «Unmaterial tan jugoso que podría ser fruto de la imaginación más desatada de un escritor de novelas de espías.»Carmen López, eldiario.es «La biografíade Amaryllis Fox deja corta la vida ficticia de Carrie Mathison, la protagonista de Homeland.»El Correo «Una pequeña biografía que no debe envidiar en nada a un thriller, pues contiene todos los ingredientes necesarios para convertirse en uno.»El arte en la tintaBy Magnus Ranstorp. 2006
Containing essays by an array of top international scholars, this new book provides a comprehensive analytical critique of the current…
state of research in the terrorism and counterterrorism studies field, what it has substantively achieved over the years and where it should be heading in the future. Offering an overall examination of research achievements and gaps in scholarly efforts towards understanding terrorism as a complex behavioural and social phenomenon, it also assesses various research approaches into counterterrorism studies, clearly identifying a pathway for prioritized future research agendas in the field. This future research agenda is further enhanced by the provision of an appendix containing 444 identified research topics developed by the United Nations Terrorism Prevention Branch. Mapping Terrorism Research builds a cohesive, interdisciplinary and high-quality research agenda in terrorism and counterterrorism for future generations of academic students, scholars as well as practitioners, and will appeal to students of terrorism studies, political science and international relations.By Liza Mundy. 2017
The award-winning New York Times bestseller about the American women who secretly served as codebreakers during World War II--a "prodigiously…
researched and engrossing" (New York Times) book that "shines a light on a hidden chapter of American history" (Denver Post).Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.By Stephen Budiansky. 2005
Biography of the Puritan secretary of the Privy Council, who oversaw espionage for British monarch Elizabeth I. Describes ways Walsingham…
perfected techniques to operate secretly against Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Catholic countries of France and Spain. Explains his use of code breaking and secret agents. Violence. 2005By James J. Wirtz, Colin S. Gray. 2024
This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the strategic history of the past two centuries, showing how those 200 years…
were shaped and reshaped extensively by war. The book takes a broad view of what was relevant to the causes, courses and consequences of conflict. The volume provides students with a strong grounding in the contribution of war to the development of the modern world, from the pre-industrial era to the age of international terrorism and smart weapons. Covering all the major wars of the past two centuries, the third edition has been revised and updated and now includes: new introductory essays at the start of each section to help students recognize historical turning points and strategic themes; revised and updated material on the post-Cold War period, accommodating new developments and contemporary perspectives; new material on non-Western views on strategy, especially Sun Tzu; a new chapter on ‘The age of acceleration and great power competition’, starting with the death of Bin Laden and ending with the Ukraine crisis; a new Conclusion offering a synthesis between the message of earlier editions and the state of strategy today. This textbook will be essential reading for students of strategic studies, security studies, war studies, International Relations and international history.By Adam Sisman. 2023
The extraordinary secret life of a great novelist, which his biographer could not publish while le Carré was alive. Secrecy…
came naturally to John le Carré, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Adam Sisman's definitive biography, published in 2015, provided a revealing portrait of this fascinating man; yet some aspects of his subject remained hidden.Nowhere was this more so than in his private life. Apparently content in his marriage, the novelist conducted a string of love affairs over five decades. To these relationships he brought much of the tradecraft that he had learned as a spy - cover stories, cut-outs and dead letter boxes. These clandestine operations brought an element of danger to his life, but they also meant deceiving those closest to him. Small wonder that betrayal became a running theme in his work.In trying to manage his biography, the novelist engaged in a succession of skirmishes with his biographer. While he could control what Sisman wrote about him in his lifetime, he accepted that the truth would eventually become known. Following his death in 2020, what had been withheld can now be revealed.The Secret Life of John le Carré reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject. “Now that he is dead,” Sisman writes, “we can know him better.”By Lawrence Wright. 2006
Traces Islamic fundamentalism from 1948 to the 2001 attack on America. Highlights Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman…
al-Zawahiri. Asserts a historical lack of concern from intelligence agencies except for FBI agent John O'Neill and Saudi prince Turki al-Faisal. Violence and strong language. Bestseller. 2006By Nicholas Booth. 2007
Biography of British spy Eddie Chapman (1914-1997), a career criminal imprisoned on a Channel isle when the Nazis captured it…
in 1940. Describes his training as a Nazi spy, his return to England, and his services as an agent for MI5. Some violence and some strong language. 2007The author of The Kompromat Conspiracy reveals the truth behind Great Britain&’s secret World War II group. What did…
SOE really achieve during the Second World War? Why were so many agents parachuted into enemy hands? Who chose to back Communist guerrillas in Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Greece and Malaya in preference to other anti-Axis movements? In this newly revised edition, Nigel West strips away the secrecy that has surrounded the Special Operations Executive since it was officially wound up in 1946, and reveal the breathtaking political naivety, operational incompetence, and ruthless manipulation. Despite the heroism of individual agents who suffered appalling privation to further the organization&’s dubious objectives, there is an underlying tragedy of dreadful proportions. Secret War is a detailed analysis of SOE&’s structure and performance and describes its successes and failures across the globe. The book casts doubt on the official histories authorized by the Cabinet Office, offers evidence of the setbacks that jeopardized D-Day, and gives an account of the paramilitary units dropped behind enemy lines immediately after the invasion, which saved SOE&’s reputation. This book is a highly provocative but authoritative history of the organization that existed for less than six years but had a lasting impact on the world&’s postwar development. &“Secret War is important, even necessary in political terms.&” —Financial TimesBy Anne Bragance. 2014
" Aventurière, femme légère, épouse brimée éprise de liberté et de beaux officiers, Margaretha-Gertrud Zelle est née aux Pays-Bas en…
1876. Installée à Paris sous le nom de Lady Mac Leod puis de Mata Hari, elle devient l'idole des salons grâce à ses danses d'inspiration javanaise, et s'invente peu à peu une légende flamboyante. Mais elle est frivole, vénale, naïve, et sa gloire sera de courte durée. Aveugle au drame de la Grande Guerre, elle se prend aux filets de l'espionnage et du contre-espionnage. Son destin va bientôt lui échapper et la conduire jusqu'aux fossés de Vincennes, devant le peloton d'exécution. Là, au bout de sa courte existence, celle qui aura négligé de regarder la vie en face affrontera les fusils et la mort avec un courage et une dignité exemplaires. Le mythe de Mata Hari est né, symbole troublant des mirages de son époque. " -- 4e de couvBy Mark Simmons. 2014
Elyesa Bazna was the highest-paid spy in history. Working for the British ambassador in Ankara in 1943, Bazna photographed top-secret…
documents and sold them to the Nazis. So started his career as a ‘walk-in’, a freelance spy whose loyalties lay with the highest bidder. His codename was Cicero. But a beautiful woman was to end it all.Cicero was compromised by an American-controlled agent working at the German Embassy, who obtained his code name and discovered that he was working at the British Embassy. He fled and narrowly avoided being captured by the tipped-off British. Finally free, he realised his money was worthless – most of it was counterfeit, produced by the Nazi scheme Operation Bernhard.Mark Simmons weaves together personal accounts by the leading characters and information from top-secret files from MI5, MI6 and the CIA to tell the astonishing story of Agent Cicero.By Adam Sisman. 2023
Secrecy came naturally to John le Carré, and there were some secrets that he fought fiercely to keep. Adam Sisman's…
definitive biography, published in 2015, provided a revealing portrait of this fascinating man; yet some aspects of his subject remained hidden.Nowhere was this more so than in his private life. Apparently content in his marriage, the novelist conducted a string of love affairs over five decades. To these relationships he brought much of the tradecraft that he had learned as a spy - cover stories, cut-outs and dead letter boxes. These clandestine operations brought an element of danger to his life, but they also meant deceiving those closest to him. Small wonder that betrayal became a running theme in his work.In trying to manage his biography, the novelist engaged in a succession of skirmishes with his biographer. While he could control what Sisman wrote about him in his lifetime, he accepted that the truth would eventually become known. Following his death in 2020, what had been withheld can now be revealed.The Secret Life of John le Carré reveals a hitherto-hidden perspective on the life and work of the spy-turned-author and a fascinating meditation on the complex relationship between biographer and subject. 'Now that he is dead,' Sisman writes, 'we can know him better.'By M. William Phelps. 2008
Biography of famed patriot and American Revolution hero Nathan Hale (1755-1776), who was hung by the British for spying. Uses…
primary sources to detail Hale's years at Yale and his teaching career before he joined the Connecticut militia. Some violence. 2008By David Hebditch. 2021
“A treasure of a book…An authentic adventure saga [and] a very human story generously seasoned with ingenuity, technology and hardy…
individualism.” —K9YA TelegraphIncludes photos and mapsClandestine radio operators had one of the most dangerous jobs of World War II. Those in Nazi-occupied Europe for the SOE, MI6, and OSS had a life expectancy of just six weeks. In the Gilbert Islands, the Japanese decapitated seventeen New Zealand coastwatchers.These highly skilled agents’ main tasks were to maintain regular contact with their home base and pass vital intelligence back. As this meticulously researched book reveals, many operators did more than that. Norwegian Odd Starheim hijacked a ship and sailed it to the Shetlands. In the Solomon Islands Jack Read and Paul Mason warned the defenders of Guadalcanal about incoming enemy air raids, giving American fighters a chance to inflict irreversible damage on the Japanese Air Force. In 1944 Arthur Brown was central to Operation Jedburgh’s success delaying the arrival of the SS Das Reich armored division at the Normandy beachheads. The author also explains in layman’s terms the technology of 1940s radios and the ingenious codes used.Most importantly, Covert Radio Agents tells the dramatic human stories of these gallant behind-the-lines radio agents. Who were they? How were they trained? How did they survive against the odds? This is a highly informative and uplifting history of World War II’s unsung heroes.