The Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal
Michael SmithWhy do people put their lives at risk to collect intelligence? How do intelligence services ensure that the agents they recruit do their bidding & don't betray them? What makes the perfect spy? Drawing on interviews with active & former British, American, Russian, European, & Asian intelligence officers & agents, Michael Smith creates a layered portrait of why spies spy, what motivates them, & what makes them effective.
Love, sex, money, patriotism, risk, adventure, revenge, compulsion, doing the right thing— focusing on the motivations, The Anatomy of a Spy presents a wealth of spy stories, some previously unknown & some famous, from the very human angle of the agents themselves. The accounts of actual spying extend from ancient history to the present, & from running agents inside the Islamic State & al-Qaeda to the recent Russian active measures campaigns & operations to influence votes in the UK, European Union, & United States, penetrating as far as Trump Tower if not the White House.
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Michael Smith spent a decade in British intelligence before becoming a journalist, first with the BBC & then with the Daily Telegraph & Sunday Times. Smith is the author of numerous books on espionage, including the number one UK bestseller Station X: The Secrets of Bletchley Park, the US bestseller Killer Elite, The Emperor's Codes, published by Arcade, & Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews, which led to the recognition of former MI6 officer Frank Foley as Righteous Among Nations. Smith is a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College Oxford & a member of the Historical Advisory Group of the Bletchley Park Trust. He lives in Oxfordshire in England.