28. The Ten Best Books Written on Intelligence

The following is a list I obtained from Nigel West. The books are listed in alphabetical order of author.

Bearden, Milton and Risen, Jim (2004). The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA’s Final Showdown with the KGB.. New York: Random House. A fascinating version of the end of the Cold War and the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan, written by a senior CIA officer.

Benson, Robert Louis and Warner, Michael (1996). VENONA: Soviet Espionage and the American Response, 1939-1957. Washington, DC: NSA/CIA. The official history of the VENONA cryptographic project declassified in 1996.

Bentley, Elizabeth, ed. by Peake, Hayden (1988). Out of Bondage. New York: Ballantine. The story of the NKVD defector in New York in 1945 who implicated numerous Communist Party agents.

Burrows, William E. (1996). Deep Black. New York: Random House. Most accurate history of the development of reconnaissance satellites, and an overview of aerial intelligence collection platforms.

Dallin, David (1955). Soviet Espionage. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press. Earliest, most reliable history of early NKVD activities, the first of a genre.

Hinsley, F. H. (1979). British Intelligence in the Second World War. London: HMSO. Comprehensive study of ULTRA and other intelligence sources and their impact on the war, in five volumes, released as an official history series.

Masterman, J. C. (1972). The Double Cross System of the War of 1930 to 1945. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press. Magisterial analysis of the development and exploitation of double agents and the genesis of strategic deception.

Schecter, Jerrold (2002). The Spy Who Saved the World. New York: Charles Scribner’s. Best account of Oleg Penkovsky’s espionage in Moscow during the Cuban missile crisis, based on CIA transcripts.

Sontag, Sherry and Drew, Christopher, with Drew, Annette Lawrence (1998). Blind Man’s Bluff. New York: Public Affairs. Detailed account of the U. S. Navy’s deployment of clandestine submarine operations during the Cold War.

Wise, David (1995). Nightmover. New York: Harper Collins. An accurate account of the investigation in Aldrich Ames’ espionage inside the CIA, with the counterintelligence background.