Description

NUMBER ONE EVENING STANDARD BESTSELLER
BOOK OF THE YEAR – DAILY TELEGRAPH

‘Exceptional. A blueprint for productive, sophisticated espionage in the age of Islamist terror’ Daily Telegraph

Spying has changed. In this era of email intercepts and drone strikes, spooks are expected to uncover plots buried in mountains of data. Yet this makes the need for trained field operatives who can verify facts and uncover secrets more acute than ever. The human factor endures.

In The New Spymasters, the first real account of how modern espionage works, we follow riveting stories of dramatic missions and the larger-than-life characters who undertook them. These were moments when success – and ultimately life or death – depended on whether the right person was in the right place… at exactly the right time.

Publisher Review

Valuable and thought-provoking, breaks new ground. A good manual for the spy cadets of the future, the dangers they face and traps they may well fall into * The Guardian * Draws on an impressive array of interviews with serving intelligence officers. A page-turner for those outside the secret world, and a thought-provoker for those inside it * The Times * Exceptional. A blueprint for productive, sophisticated espionage in the age of Islamist terror * Daily Telegraph * A lucid, well-written analysis * Spectator * I urge spymasters new and old - but more importantly those who want to understand the role of espionage - to read this remarkably accurate and detailed account of the CIA's transition from Cold War to ISIS War, from nuclear attack to hacker attack. Stephen Grey nails the story in this exceptionably readable book -- John Macgaffin III, former Associate Deputy Director for CIA Operations There are many books on spies and spying, but few as perceptive or rigorous as this. Full of revelations . . . A very enjoyable read. Should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the world we live in, the threats we face, and those who are charged with keeping us safe -- Jason Burke, author of 'Al Qaeda' and 'The 9/11 Wars' A manual of modern espionage. Farewell George Smiley. The targets are new, the methods different, the technology hyper. Only the purpose remains - forewarning -- Frederick Forsyth, author of 'Day of the Jackal' Revelatory, deeply informed, subtle * Financial Times *