This is a very comprehensive look at the history of intelligence, spanning the last several thousand years. Beginning in Biblical times and continuing on into the present day, we are taken into the secret world of spies and intelligence. This is a hefty book and there is a lot to take in, but it follows a chronological outline with lots of notes, making it easy to read. Andrew, who is an historian at the University of Cambridge, did a wonderful job compiling all this information and I was interested to learn that he is one of the world's leading authorities in this field. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. *Advanced copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The author managed to research over 3,000 years of human history with intelligence work and condense it into an interesting book that captured my interest. Great writing and such interesting information!

A concise, informative overview of intelligence effort. Solid, well-documented and easy-to=understand. If synthesis of such complex subjects is possible, then it must be authored by prominent historian of intelligence agencies - Mr. Andrew.

Well done. A huge book, which incorporates some of Andrew's other work. If you are interested in the subject- truly interested- this is the place to start, even though it is intimidating. It's deeply researched and well written. This not a book to read on Kindle, as there are lots of footnotes etc. Note that this is the history of intelligence in the West. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

For those of you who may not know, Professor Andrew is one of (if not the) leading authorities in intelligence history, and I’ve been reading his work since I was a baby undergrad who didn’t know the difference between deception and denial. The fact that I have the opportunity to read this book (published September 2018, you can preorder here) just made my week.

As you can tell, this is going to be a sterling review. And, honestly: it would have to have been a truly atrocious book for me to have been unhappy while reading it. Does that make my review biased? ln one sense, probably. On the other hand, having read Professor Andrew’s work in the past and having studied intelligence for near on a decade myself, I am perhaps uniquely placed to critique such books. Take it how you will.

This book was an awesome read. And I mean, awesome. lntelligence history, despite what some may think or believe, is often stranger than fiction. Professor Andrew has condensed an amazing amount of information into this text, and through an approachable writing style and impeccable use of anecdotal asides has written quite the enjoyable volume. No Saharan sand here! You get to read about turncoats, double agents, triple agents, monarchs throwing their shoes at their spymasters! That one really made me chortle; how undignified, for both parties.

Look, I have a particular interest in intelligence and that drives a lot of my leisure reading as well as my research, but I truly think that this history has something all readers will enjoy. It is a little large (900+ pages), but the way the book is formatted means you can dip into a certain period in intelligence history without having to commit to the whole thing at once, which l quite liked. Or, you can join Nerds’R’Us and read it cover to cover, for your enjoyment and (thorough) edification.

I loved it. Five star read, people.