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Spies
- The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West
- Narrated by: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
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Publisher's summary
Foreign Policy Best Book of 2023
Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2023
The “riveting” (The Economist), secret story of the hundred-year intelligence war between Russia and the West with lessons for our new superpower conflict with China.
Spies is the history of the secret war that Russia and the West have been waging for a century. Espionage, sabotage, and subversion were the Kremlin’s means to equalize the imbalance of resources between the East and West before, during, and after the Cold War. There was nothing “unprecedented” about Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. It was simply business as usual, new means used for old ends.
The Cold War started long before 1945. But the West fought back after World War II, mounting its own shadow war, using disinformation, vast intelligence networks, and new technologies against the Soviet Union. Spies is a “deeply researched and artfully crafted” (Fiona Hill, deputy assistant to the US President) story of the best and worst of mankind: bravery and honor, treachery and betrayal. The narrative shifts across continents and decades, from the freezing streets of St. Petersburg in 1917 to the bloody beaches of Normandy; from coups in faraway lands to present-day Moscow where troll farms, synthetic bots, and weaponized cyber-attacks being launched woefully unprepared West. It is about the rise and fall of Eastern superpowers: Russia’s past and present and the global ascendance of China.
Mining hitherto secret archives in multiple languages, Calder Walton shows that the Cold War started earlier than commonly assumed, that it continued even after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, and that Britain and America’s clandestine struggle with the Soviet government provided key lessons for countering China today. This “authoritative, sweeping” (Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Embers of War) history, combined with practical takeaways for our current great power struggles, make Spies a unique and essential addition to the history of the Cold War and the unrolling conflict between the United States and China that will dominate the 21st century.
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GCHQ
- Centenary Edition
- By: Richard Aldrich
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 25 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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GCHQ is the largest and most secretive intelligence organisation in the UK, and has existed for 100 years - but we still know next to nothing about it. In this ground-breaking book - the first and most definitive history of the organisation ever published - intelligence expert Richard Aldrich traces GCHQ’s development from a wartime code-breaking operation based in the Bedfordshire countryside into one of the world leading espionage organisations.
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Absolutely fascinating
- By philstopford on 04-01-24
By: Richard Aldrich
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The Road to 9/11
- Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
- By: Peter Dale Scott
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This is an ambitious, meticulous examination of how U.S. foreign policy since the 1960s has led to partial or total cover-ups of past domestic criminal acts, including, perhaps, the catastrophe of 9/11. Peter Dale Scott, whose previous books have investigated CIA involvement in southeast Asia, the drug wars, and the Kennedy assassination, here probes how the policies of presidents since Nixon have augmented the tangled bases for the 2001 terrorist attack.
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Full of Interesting Information, Hard to Follow
- By Blizzard on 09-20-13
By: Peter Dale Scott
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The Sword and the Shield
- By: Christopher Andrew, Vasilli Mitrokhin
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 31 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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This book reveals the most complete picture ever of the KGB and its operations in the United States and Europe. It is based on an extremely top secret archive which details the full extent of its worldwide network. Christopher Andrew is professor of modern and contemporary history and chair of the history department at Cambridge University, a former visiting professor of national security at Harvard, a frequent guest lecturer at other United States universities, and a regular host of BBC radio and TV programs.
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Great book on the history of the KGB
- By Clydene on 05-28-12
By: Christopher Andrew, and others
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The Plot to Betray America
- How Team Trump Embraced Our Enemies, Compromised Our Security, and How We Can Fix It
- By: Malcolm Nance
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Plot to Betray America, New York Times best-selling author and renowned intelligence expert Malcolm Nance reveals exactly how President Trump and his inner circle conspired, coordinated, communicated, and eventually strategized to commit the greatest acts of treachery in the history of the United States: Compromising the presidential oath of office in exchange for power and personal enrichment.
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Fantastic Read
- By Customer on 11-14-19
By: Malcolm Nance
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Legacy of Ashes
- The History of the CIA
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the book the CIA does not want you to read. For the last 60 years, the CIA has maintained a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, never disclosing its blunders to the American public. It spun its own truth to the nation while reality lay buried in classified archives. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Weiner offers a stunning indictment of the CIA, a deeply flawed organization that has never deserved America's confidence.
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Flawed but Important
- By Michael on 07-18-08
By: Tim Weiner
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White Malice
- The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa
- By: Susan Williams
- Narrated by: Chanté McCormick
- Length: 21 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In White Malice, Susan Williams unearths the covert operations pursued by the CIA from Ghana to the Congo to the UN in an effort to frustrate and deny Africa’s new generation of nationalist leaders. This dramatically upends the conventional belief that the African nations failed to establish effective, democratic states on their own accord. As the old European powers moved out, the US moved in.
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A very good read.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-20-22
By: Susan Williams
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Shadow State
- Murder, Mayhem, and Russia's Remaking of the West
- By: Luke Harding
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Moscow’s support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election has grown into the biggest political scandal of modern times. Its American players are well-known. In Shadow State, award-winning journalist and best-selling author Luke Harding reveals the Russians behind the story: the spies, hackers, and internet trolls. Harding charts how the Kremlin has updated Communist-era methods of influence and propaganda for the age of Facebook and Twitter, and considers the compelling question of our age: what exactly does Vladimir Putin have on President Trump?
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The reader is mispronouncing words!
- By Jonathan on 07-20-20
By: Luke Harding
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The Compatriots
- The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad
- By: Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogan
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The history of Russian espionage is soaked in blood, from a spontaneous pistol shot that killed a secret policeman in Romania in 1924 to the attempt to poison an exiled KGB colonel in Salisbury, England, in 2017. Russian émigrés have found themselves continually at the center of the mayhem. Russians began leaving the country in big numbers in the late 19th century, fleeing pogroms, tsarist secret police persecution, and the Revolution, then Stalin and the KGB - and creating the third-largest diaspora in the world.
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Great book. Extremely detailed history of the USSR
- By M. Gordon on 03-03-20
By: Andrei Soldatov, and others
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The Iran Wars
- Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East
- By: Jay Solomon
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The Iran Wars is an absorbing account of a battle waged on many levels - military, financial, and covert. Jay Solomon’s book is the product of extensive in-depth reporting and interviews with all the key players in the conflict - from high-ranking Iranian officials to Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team. With a reporter’s masterly investigative eye and the narrative dexterity of a great historian, Solomon shows how Iran’s nuclear development went unnoticed for years by the international community only to become its top security concern.
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Titled Towards Confrontation
- By Jim on 03-19-17
By: Jay Solomon
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The Longest War
- America and Al-Qaeda Since 9/11
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Longest War, Peter Bergen offers a comprehensive history of this war and its evolution, from the strategies devised in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond. Weaving together internal documents from al-Qaeda and the U.S. offices of counterterrorism, first-person interviews with top-level jihadists and senior Washington officials, along with his own experiences on the ground in the Middle East, Bergen balances the accounts of each side.
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More Bush bashing..yes, but still worth reading.
- By Dennis on 01-18-11
By: Peter L. Bergen
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To Start a War
- How the Bush Administration Took America into Iraq
- By: Robert Draper
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Even now, after more than 15 years, it is hard to see the invasion of Iraq through the cool, considered gaze of history. For too many people, the damage is still too palpable, and still unfolding. Most of the major players in that decision are still with us, and few of them are not haunted by it, in one way or another. Perhaps it's that combination, the passage of the years and the still unresolved trauma, that explains why so many protagonists opened up so fully for the first time to Robert Draper.
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If you’ve grown weary of the current GOP administration’s incompetence...
- By Marynelle on 09-04-20
By: Robert Draper
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The New Nobility
- The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB
- By: Andrei Soldatov, Irina Borogin
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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While Vladimir Putin has been president and prime minister of Russia, the Kremlin has deployed the security services to intimidate the political opposition, reassert the power of the state, and carry out assassinations overseas. At the same time, its agents and spies were put beyond public accountability and blessed with the prestige, benefits, and legitimacy lost since the Soviet collapse.
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A little difficult to follow
- By Jairus on 12-10-10
By: Andrei Soldatov, and others
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By All Means Available
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In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA’s secret war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on the Soviets for their invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Vickers transformed the covert campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghan resistance win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to the end of the Cold War. In By All Means Available, Vickers recounts his remarkable career.
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Great listen, interesting information
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Spies, Lies, and Algorithms
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In Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Amy Zegart separates fact from fiction as she offers an engaging and enlightening account of the past, present, and future of American espionage as it faces a revolution driven by digital technology. Drawing on decades of research and hundreds of interviews with intelligence officials, Zegart provides a history of US espionage, gives an overview of intelligence basics and life inside America's intelligence agencies, and explores the vexed issues of traitors, covert action, and congressional oversight.
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Superb and insightful!
- By Cameron on 02-01-22
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The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
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A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
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A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
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The Recruiter
- Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence
- By: Douglas London
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This revealing memoir from a 34-year veteran of the CIA who worked as a case officer and recruiter of foreign agents before and after 9/11 provides an invaluable perspective on the state of modern spy craft, how the CIA has developed, and how it must continue to evolve.
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What a whiner
- By Apple Engineer on 02-26-22
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Spies and Lies
- How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World
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- Narrated by: James Daniel Burkdoll
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
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Spies and Lies a groundbreaking expose of elite influence operations by China's little-known Ministry of State Security. Revealing for the first time how the Chinese Communist Party has tasked its spies to deceive the world, it challenges the conventional account of China's past, present, and future.
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Beware of the MSS
- By Reed Ramlow on 03-08-24
By: Alex Joske
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Russians Among Us
- Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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With intrigue that rivals the best le Carre novels, Russians Among Us tells the urgent story of Russia’s espionage efforts against the United States and the West from the end of the Cold War to the present.
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Should be required reading for every citizen
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-20
By: Gordon Corera
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By All Means Available
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- By: Michael G. Vickers
- Narrated by: Michael G. Vickers
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
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In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA’s secret war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on the Soviets for their invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Vickers transformed the covert campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghan resistance win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to the end of the Cold War. In By All Means Available, Vickers recounts his remarkable career.
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Great listen, interesting information
- By Amazon Customer on 08-02-23
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Spies, Lies, and Algorithms
- The History and Future of American Intelligence
- By: Amy B. Zegart
- Narrated by: Amy B. Zegart
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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In Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Amy Zegart separates fact from fiction as she offers an engaging and enlightening account of the past, present, and future of American espionage as it faces a revolution driven by digital technology. Drawing on decades of research and hundreds of interviews with intelligence officials, Zegart provides a history of US espionage, gives an overview of intelligence basics and life inside America's intelligence agencies, and explores the vexed issues of traitors, covert action, and congressional oversight.
-
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Superb and insightful!
- By Cameron on 02-01-22
By: Amy B. Zegart
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The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
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Performance
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A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
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A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
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The Recruiter
- Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence
- By: Douglas London
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This revealing memoir from a 34-year veteran of the CIA who worked as a case officer and recruiter of foreign agents before and after 9/11 provides an invaluable perspective on the state of modern spy craft, how the CIA has developed, and how it must continue to evolve.
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What a whiner
- By Apple Engineer on 02-26-22
By: Douglas London
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Spies and Lies
- How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World
- By: Alex Joske
- Narrated by: James Daniel Burkdoll
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spies and Lies a groundbreaking expose of elite influence operations by China's little-known Ministry of State Security. Revealing for the first time how the Chinese Communist Party has tasked its spies to deceive the world, it challenges the conventional account of China's past, present, and future.
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Beware of the MSS
- By Reed Ramlow on 03-08-24
By: Alex Joske
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Russians Among Us
- Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
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With intrigue that rivals the best le Carre novels, Russians Among Us tells the urgent story of Russia’s espionage efforts against the United States and the West from the end of the Cold War to the present.
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Should be required reading for every citizen
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-20
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The Sword and the Shield
- By: Christopher Andrew, Vasilli Mitrokhin
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This book reveals the most complete picture ever of the KGB and its operations in the United States and Europe. It is based on an extremely top secret archive which details the full extent of its worldwide network. Christopher Andrew is professor of modern and contemporary history and chair of the history department at Cambridge University, a former visiting professor of national security at Harvard, a frequent guest lecturer at other United States universities, and a regular host of BBC radio and TV programs.
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Great book on the history of the KGB
- By Clydene on 05-28-12
By: Christopher Andrew, and others
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The Spy Who Knew Too Much
- An Ex-CIA Officer’s Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On a sunlit morning in September 1978, a sloop drifts aimlessly across the Chesapeake Bay. The cabin reveals signs of a struggle, and “classified” documents, live 9 mm cartridges, and a top-secret “burst” satellite communications transmitter are discovered aboard. But where is the boat’s owner, former CIA officer John Paisley? One man may hold the key to finding out. Tennent “Pete” Bagley was once a rising star in America’s spy aristocracy, and many expected he’d eventually become CIA director.
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The, too long, story of an obsession
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The CIA Intelligence Analyst
- Views from the Inside
- By: Roger Z. George - edited by, Robert Levine - edited by
- Narrated by: Linda Jones, Bob Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The common perception of a CIA officer is someone who collects secret intelligence abroad-a spy. However, the critical link between secrets and policy is the intelligence analyst. The CIA Intelligence Analyst brings to light the vital, but often-unseen, work of these officers.
By: Roger Z. George - edited by, and others
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Circle of Treason
- CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed
- By: Sandra V. Grimes, Jeanne Vertefeuille
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Circle of Treason is the first account written by CIA agents who were key members of the CIA team that conducted the intense "Ames Mole Hunt." Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille were two of the five principals of the CIA team tasked with hunting one of their own and were directly responsible for identifying Ames as the mole, leading to his arrest and conviction.
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The hunt for a mole
- By Jean on 01-15-14
By: Sandra V. Grimes, and others
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How Spies Think
- Ten Lessons in Intelligence
- By: David Omand
- Narrated by: David Omand
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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From the former director of GCHQ, learn the methodology used by the British intelligence agencies to reach judgements, establish the right level of confidence and act decisively. Intelligence officers discern the truth. They gather information - often contradictory or incomplete - and, with it, they build the most accurate possible image of the world. With the stakes at their absolute highest, they must then decide what to do.
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Great content, bad narration
- By ArizonaKilroy on 07-09-21
By: David Omand
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ISIS
- Inside the Army of Terror
- By: Michael Weiss, Hassan Hassan
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Initially dismissed by US President Barack Obama, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has shocked the world by conquering massive territories in both countries and promising to create a vast new Muslim caliphate that observes the strict dictates of Sharia law. In ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, American journalist Michael Weiss and Syrian analyst Hassan Hassan explain how these violent extremists evolved from a nearly defeated Iraqi insurgent group into a jihadi army of international volunteers who have conquered territory equal to the size of Great Britain.
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Dunce Hat, Please...
- By Mel on 02-16-16
By: Michael Weiss, and others
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The Achilles Trap
- Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq
- By: Steve Coll
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- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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From bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll, the definitive story of the decades-long relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein, and a deeply researched and news breaking investigation into how human error, cultural miscommunication, and hubris led to one of the costliest geopolitical conflicts of our time.
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From the Saddam’s Point of View.
- By philip on 03-08-24
By: Steve Coll
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The Secret World
- A History of Intelligence
- By: Christopher Andrew
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 37 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. In this audiobook, distinguished historian Christopher Andrew recovers much of the lost intelligence history of the past three millennia - and shows its relevance today.
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Very interesting history but biased
- By Thor Olson on 10-09-18
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GCHQ
- Centenary Edition
- By: Richard Aldrich
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 25 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
GCHQ is the largest and most secretive intelligence organisation in the UK, and has existed for 100 years - but we still know next to nothing about it. In this ground-breaking book - the first and most definitive history of the organisation ever published - intelligence expert Richard Aldrich traces GCHQ’s development from a wartime code-breaking operation based in the Bedfordshire countryside into one of the world leading espionage organisations.
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Absolutely fascinating
- By philstopford on 04-01-24
By: Richard Aldrich
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Spies
- The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia
- By: Marc Favreau
- Narrated by: Curt Bonnem
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A thrilling account of the Cold War spies and spycraft that changed the course of history, perfect for listeners of Bomb and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler. Rife with intrigue and filled with fascinating historical figures whose actions shine light on both the past and present, this timely work of narrative nonfiction explores the turbulence of the Cold War through the lens of the men and women who waged it behind closed doors, and helps explain the role secret and clandestine operations have played in America's history and its national security.
By: Marc Favreau
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New Cold Wars
- China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West
- By: David E. Sanger, Mary K. Brooks
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean, David E. Sanger
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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New Cold Wars—the latest from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger—is a fast-paced account of America’s plunge into simultaneous confrontations with two very different adversaries. For years, the United States was confident that the newly democratic Russia and increasingly wealthy China could be lured into a Western-led order that promised prosperity and relative peace—so long as they agreed to Washington’s terms. By the time America emerged from the age of terrorism, it was clear that this had been a fantasy.
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Gives many insights into our new Cold Wars
- By Amazon Customer on 04-19-24
By: David E. Sanger, and others
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The Perfect Weapon
- War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age
- By: David E. Sanger
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Perfect Weapon is the startling inside story of how the rise of cyberweapons transformed geopolitics like nothing since the invention of the atomic bomb. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes, cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. Two presidents - Bush and Obama - drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious code to blow up Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, and yet America proved remarkably unprepared when its own weapons were stolen from its arsenal.
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mix of information and propaganda
- By Inthego on 06-14-19
By: David E. Sanger
What listeners say about Spies
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Freeheel Goat
- 01-18-24
This is a definitive account of pre & post cold war
This book explains the how and why of the coup that unseated Gorbachev and other things that only now are coming to light. The author does not stint in his praise and condemnation of Eastern and Western spy agencies.
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- William S. Stone
- 03-09-24
Dry but fascinating
The language is dry as dust but the history is absolutely riveting. Worth every minute!
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- Alex B.
- 04-05-24
Great little know history
Really interesting and memorable history of east west spying. A lot of fascinating details of episodes and names that I knew a little about - Cambridge 5, Richard Hanson, Berlin, USSR spying on WW2 allies, a tunnel under Berlin, the Cuban Missile crisis ETC.
A lot of audible reviews are upset about the author’s reporting on trump and Russia. But if the book is credible about other Russian spying, why isn’t it about Russia and Trump?
At the end, the book does drift away from its core subject and into some unsupported speculation - quantum computing, the fourth Industrial Revolution etc.
But the discussion of Chinese spy craft and comparisons to the USSR was interesting.
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- Dirk Dev
- 04-09-24
US Open for Sies
The conclusion after all the fascinating history, will leave the reader questioning America's future. Trump may be Russias greatest ally.
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- Issac Singer
- 07-03-24
Did not age well
Unfortunately this author comprised his own integrity with his token Trump - Russia collusion fraud. And yes, this book was written long after the facts were out. Really embarrassing and pathetic to read an author with TDS. Sad. More importantly, objectively false. What does that say about the rest of his research?
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- Ken Keppler
- 08-11-23
Author's Interpretation of Jan 6 2021
This book was decent overall and provided a good overview of the intelligence war. He clearly missed what the J6 protestors were all about but that is hardly surprising since the author lives in an Ivy League bubble and is clearly a leftist. It wasn't a coup and he clearly hates Trump and chose to bash him and label him a dictator while conveniently ignoring all the crap the Biden and Obama administrations did and are doing to undermine American society and turn us against one another. Trump is 1000% more patriotic than any of those two. You never heard Obama say he loves his country. Democrats hate America. They demonstrate this everyday. So with this politicized ending for the book it is not one I will be recommending my students to read. I stay off politics in the classroom unlike other Left leaning professors. No wonder why the Ivy League churns out so many so called "educated" elites who hate America with a guy like this teaching. He clearly doesn't understand what makes us real Americans tick and needs to pack up and go back to the in-bred has been empire he came from.
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1 person found this helpful
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- ael
- 10-23-23
Fascinating
Amy of material overwhelming
Amazing we did as well as we did
Luckily opponents were often less competent
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- Lucian Lombardi
- 05-18-24
Historical perspective
Found the historical context eliminating.
The 50/50 chance of our democracy surviving scary to say the least.
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- Thomas Randolph
- 08-12-23
A detailed history, inexcusably marred by politics
The author is extremely knowledgeable and impeccably credentialed, and he obviously worked hard to detail the exciting events in espionage during the Cold War. I learned a lot and really enjoyed the historical side of this book, which is where, I feel, the author should have remained. Unfortunately, his politics, first a trickle in the narrative, grow into an asymmetrical torrent by the end. I can truly say I was at a loss to connect the brilliant work of documenting spycraft in the 20th century with his cliche ridden, over the top tirade against Donald Trump in the last chapter. The historical work became a dogmatic missive full of the author's opinions, rather than any thoughtful conclusions based on fact. And it was not just the last chapter that brought me right out of the content, as the author saw fit to inject his modern political points into many of his assessments of past events, which is terribly disappointing given his excellent handling of the actual facts.
No matter the reader's politics, I feel this work really drops the ball at the end, bruising what is otherwise a brilliant historical narrative.
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- Tim
- 08-11-23
Excellent
Does an excellent job of going deep enough to educate while not overloading the reader with detail. Weaves a great historical story with sprinkles of drama along with calculated projections for the future.
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