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The Secret World

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The Secret World

By: Christopher Andrew
Narrated by: Laurence Kennedy
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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. The codebreakers at Bletchley Park, the most successful World War II intelligence agency, were completely unaware that their predecessors in earlier moments of national crisis had broken the codes of Napoleon during the Napoleonic wars and those of Spain before the Spanish Armada.

Those who do not understand past mistakes are likely to repeat them. Intelligence is a prime example. At the outbreak of World War I, the grasp of intelligence shown by US President Woodrow Wilson and British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith was not in the same class as that of George Washington during the Revolutionary War and leading 18th-century British statesmen.

In this book, distinguished historian Christopher Andrew recovers much of the lost intelligence history of the past three millennia - and shows its relevance today.

©2018 Christopher Andrew (P)2018 Audible, Ltd Fantasy Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government World Espionage War Middle Ages Imperialism Royalty Russia Interwar Period Latin American Soviet Union Self-Determination United Kingdom Middle East Iran Africa Winston Churchill Imperial Japan Socialism British Empire Crusade
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Unfortunately the editing on this audiobook is quite bad. sometimes sentences or parts of sentences are repeated, which seems like pretty poor form as it wasn't checked before releasing.

The book itself though is very detailed, easy to understand, and narrated nicely.

Editing is poor, but very detailed book

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This is a truly intriguing and educational book, with a dry but strong narration. There are some appalling production issues with the recording though, with some sections so badly edited together it completely distracts from what is being said.

Fascinating.

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This is not an easy book to listen to as it skips from one period to another multiple times almost every paragraph. It is as if it has been written not as a book to inform but as a monologue to show the authors breadth of knowledge. Its a great shame because it seems like it could be a very interesting book but it isn't because its so full of pointless filler and so scattered that its just rather boring.

A very badly structured book.

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A good overview of the intelligence through the ages. it has some very interesting fact that definitely force the reflection on today's world.
Only criticism is the massive emphasis on code breaking which is key for intelligence but not the only component of it.

comprehensive

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Very enjoyable and insightful, including through the lessons that Prof Andrew draws out throughout the book, bringing topics back to show the importance of a long term perspective on intelligence matters.

Tour de force by pre eminent intelligence historian

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