Looking for a good Spy book

# 1

"The Cardinal of the Kremlin"

By Tom Clancy

One of his first books in "the series". Excellent. Fiction

# 2

"Killer Spy"

By Peter Mass

True story about the capture of Aldrich Ames. One of the worst "spys" in American History.

Mike

 

Cardinal of the Kremlin is one of my favorites as well.

Read this one earlier this year - true WWII story about a con-man turned spy - great book.
http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Zigzag-Story-Espionage-Betrayal/dp/0307353400

From the Amazon page:
London Times associate editor Macintyre (The Man Who Would Be King) adroitly dissects the enigmatic World War II British double agent Eddie Chapman in this intriguing and balanced biography. Giving little thought to the morality of his decision, Chapman offered to work as a spy for the Germans in 1940 after his release from an English prison in the Channel Islands, then occupied by the Germans. After undergoing German military intelligence training, Chapman parachuted into England in December 1942 with instructions to sabotage a De Havilland aircraft factory, but he surrendered after landing safely. Doubled by MI5 (the security service responsible for counterespionage), Chapman was used to feed vital disinformation to the enemy and was one of the few double agents to delude their German handlers until the end of the war. Meticulously researched—relying extensively on recently released wartime files of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service—Macintyre's biography often reads like a spy thriller. In the end, the author concludes that Chapman repeatedly risked his life... [and] provided invaluable intelligence, but it was never clear whether he was on the side of the angels or the devils. Of the two Zigzag biographies this fall (the other, by Nicholas Booth, is reviewed below), this is clearly superior. (Oct. 9)

 

All non-fiction:

Subs:
Blind Man's Bluff- Sontag and Drew- Far beyond even James Bond.
The Silent War- John Craven- the man behind the secret subs and their missions
Red Star Rogue- Sewell and Richmond- this is scary.
Dark Waters- Vyborny & Davis- tales of Craven's top secret NR-1.


The Master of Disguise- Mendez
Gideon's Spies- Thomas
Battle of Wits- Budiansky


Lots more after you read those

 

Cardinal of the Kremlin was also the first one I thought of when I saw this thread. I love Clancy books and about to finish Red Storm Rising. "Without Remorse" is a great read after you've read some of the other Clancy stories involving John Clark/Kelly. My wife got me "Teeth of the Tiger" for my b-day a few years back. It was also very good.

 

Spying for Dummies

 

Mossad - 50 years of secret wars.

 

Some randoms. Not specifically spying but related



Finished: http://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258997178&sr=8-1

^ Awesome book and rediculously cool what these guys were (are) doing



Less than 40 pages left: http://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Midnight-Kennedy-Khrushchev/dp/1400043581/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258997142&sr=8-3

^ Great book and very interesting (and scary at some points to realize how close we were)



Working on: http://www.amazon.com/Spycraft-History-Spytechs-Communism-Al-Qaeda/dp/0452295475/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258997158&sr=8-12

^ Started reading after i finished the Skunkworks book but the Cuban Missile Crisis book has kinda taken its place next to my bed right now. Kinda slow but quite interesting. I'm looking forward to finishing it

 

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the master of the genre - The late great Robert Ludlum - *Anything* by him makes for a great read IMHO.

 

Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy
Lindsay Moran



I tested/interviewed with the CIA a while back for the NCS Core Collector position (spy). After reading the above book, I lost interest.

 

Ludlum died??????

Damn....

Didn't know that...

Mike in Kuwait

 

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

 

I'm surprised no one has recommended the classic "Spy Who Came in from the Cold"

 

^^^

Thats by the same guy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_le_Carré

 

Greville Wynne, 'The Man from Odessa'.

Genuine British spy wrote very well about what went on. I have a copy signed by the author.

Neil

 

Try: "Traitors Among Us: Inside the Spy Catcher's World," by Stuart A. Herrington


I know and have worked with a couple in the book.

Pretty good read. REAL cases.


And to imagine it is still going on around us and always will.

 

Most of James Bamford books are pretty interesting.

 

+1

See no evil by Robert Baer

 

I like JC Pollock. Not exactly spy fare, but more ex special forces action. Reminds me of John Clark from Clancy's novels.