Best of
Espionage

1984

Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team


George Jonas - 1984
    It is the account of five ordinary Israelis, selected to vanish into "the cold" of espionage secrecy -- their mission to hunt down and kill the PLO terrorists responsible for the massacre of eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. This is the account of that secret mission, as related by the leader of the group -- the first Mossad agent to come out of "deep cover" and tell the story of a heroic endeavor that was shrouded in silence and speculation for years. He reveals the long and dangerous operation whose success was bought at a terrible cost to the idealistic volunteer agents themselves. "Avner" was the leader of that team, handpicked by Golda Meir to avenge the monstrous crime of Munich. He and his young companions, cut off from any direct contact with Israel, set out systematically to find and kill the central figures of the PLO's Munich operation, tracking them down wherever they lived. The mechanics, the horror, the day-by-day suspense of what they did surpass by far anything John le Carré or Robert Ludlum could imagine, as they themselves were tracked in turn (and some killed) by PLO assassins, changing identities constantly, moving from country to country, devoting their young lives to the brutal task of vengeance. Vengeance is a profoundly human document, a real-life espionage classic that plunges the reader into the shadow world of terrorism and political murder. But it goes far beyond that, to explore firsthand the feelings of disgust and doubt that gradually came to torment each member of the Israeli team, and that in the end inexorably changed their view of the mission -- and themselves. Vengeance opens a window onto a secret world, a book that at the same time inspires and horrifies. For its subject is an act of revenge that goes to the very heart of the ancient biblical questions of good and evil.

The Fourth Protocol


Frederick Forsyth - 1984
    Although one of the most notorious thieves in London, he is enough of a patriot to anonymously send the documents to MI5 so that they might locate the traitor. In Moscow, British defector Kim Philby drafts a memorandum for the Soviet General Secretary stating that, if the Labour Party wins the next general election in the United Kingdom (scheduled for sometime in the subsequent eighteen months), the "hard left" of the party will oust the moderate populist Neil Kinnock in favour of a radical new leader who will adopt a true Marxist-Leninist manifesto, including the expulsion of all American forces from the United Kingdom and the country's withdrawal from and repudiation of NATO. In conjunction with a GRU general, an academic named Krilov, and a master strategist, Philby devises "Plan Aurora" to ensure a Labour victory by exploiting the party's support for unilateral disarmament - although it is noted that the strategist, a nuclear physicist and chess Grand Master, has come up with most of the plan's strategy.

Trevanian: Four Complete Novels: The Eiger Sanction / The Loo Sanction / The Main / Shibumi


Trevanian - 1984
    As he weaves his tales of death and danger, of action and mystery, he generates an explosive edge-of-the-seat excitement that few writers can match.In The Eiger Sanction, Trevanian's highly acclaimed first novel, Jonathan Hemlock, mountain climber and professional assassin, is tricked into a most hazardous assignment that involves an attempt to conquer and scale one of the most treacherous mountain peaks in the Swiss Alps, the Eiger.Hemlock's highly skilled services are required in The Loo Sanction to recover a set of films incriminating high-ranking British officials. Drawn into a labyrinthine network of intrigue, he must attempt one of the most daring escapes ever conceived. In another masterful achievement in suspense, police lieutenant Claude LaPinte must solve a grotesque murder as he undertakes a strange journey through The Main, Montreal's dangerous immigrant district.In Shibumi, Nicholai Hel uses his nearly superhuman mental and physical prowess to destroy political terrorists. His wild series of globe-spanning adventures demonstrates why he is considered the world's most dangerous man.Rich and thoroughly entertaining, these four superbly written novels prove Trevanian to be one of the most compelling writers of suspense today.

Double the 007: From Russia with Love and Dr No


Ian Fleming - 1984
    Someone who is admired and whose ignominious destruction would cause dismay’ A beautiful Soviet spy. A brand-new Spektor cipher machine. SMERSH has set an irresistible trap that threatens the entire Secret Service. In Fleming’s fifth 007 novel Bond finds himself enmeshed in a deadly game of cross and double cross. Dr No ‘The first shot had been fired. There would be others. And whose finger was on the trigger? Who had got him so accurately in their sights?’ Crab Key island is desolate and remote. So why is Dr No defending it so ruthlessly? Only Bond can uncover the truth, in Fleming’s sixth 007 adventure.

An Indian Spy in Pakistan


Mohanlal Bhaskar - 1984
    The interrogation, which was done by the army and police, included torture of the worst kind imaginable. Many of his comrades went insane or ended their own lives. Large portions of his stories describe the methods used in gory and spine-chilling detail but there were also lighter moments with dacoits, prostitutes, pimps and dope smugglers in the same jails....’ He witnessed history unfolding from Mianwali jail: ‘... when Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was brought there, and had his grave dug and then refilled when Bhutto released him to return in truimph to Bangladesh. From his cell he watched Indian bombers and fighters knock out Pakistan’s airforce from the skies...’

Spies


Richard Ben Sapir - 1984
    Unrecovered detritus from the last German U-boat sunk off the coast of Rhode Island, it contains secret codes suggesting that a Nazi spy ring operated in the United States during the darkest days of World War II. If confirmed, it could prove a major embarrassment to the FBI—whose late director, J. Edgar Hoover, once assured the government there were no spies in the country—so the Bureau sends one of its best, Unit Chief Todd Oliver, to Newport to investigate.   A war that ended four decades earlier is not yet over for some in this New England naval town, as Oliver’s mission threatens to destroy the lives and relationships of the guilty and the innocent alike. Suddenly, dark, lingering shadows are everywhere, enveloping respected pillars of the community, the wealthy and powerful in their mansions on “the Avenue,” and respectable, law-abiding citizens who merely wish to forget. Even Oliver himself is not safe, as the agent’s inquiries into secret wartime espionage begin unraveling strong, sacred bonds of love, friendship, and family, tempting the dedicated operative to compromise everything he stands for in the face of a shocking murder that rocks Newport society to its core.

Kahn on Codes: Secrets of the New Cryptology


David Kahn - 1984
    "Cryptology has gone public," Kahn writes. "A field that was once the exclusive domain of governments has become a concern of businesses and individuals."In this absorbing and eclectic collection, Kahn expertly explores the crytographer's world, leading us into and through its dark labyrinths. We learn about the legendary Herbert O. Yardley's "lost manuscript," investigate the origins of polyalphabetic substitution, and follow the adventures of Hans-Thilo Schmidt- whom Kahn calls the greates spy of World War II.Among the other fascinating sections in Kahn on Codes: * Codebreaking in World Wars I & II: Their Major Successes and Failures, Their Causes and Effects * Lgcn Otuu Wllwgh W1 Etfown, or, "They Will Attack at Midway" * Ciphers and Computers * The Soviet Spy Ciphers used by Reino Hayhanen and Rudolf Abel * Public Versus Private Cryptology * Codes in Context * Opportunities in CryptologyKahn on Codes also includes a list of cryptological terms, endnotes, and index.

A Talent for Revenge


John Cutter - 1984
    It was a mission. Sullivan is a mercenary with a talent for revenge. He is no kill-crazy psychopath – he works for a cause, and for what he believes in. Left a broken man after his marriage was cut short by his wife’s violent death, Sullivan turns his back on his violent lifestyle. That is, until he meets Julia Penn. Beautiful and vulnerable, Julia’s plight brings Sullivan out of retirement. Julia had been tortured by Magg Ottowa – an African dictator. And she needs Sullivan to hunt him down. Motivated by a fortune in cold cash, and the attention of an attractive woman, Sullivan finds himself unable to resist… A Talent for Revenge is the first thrilling installment in The Specialist series. John Cutter is a pseudonym for John Shirley, a science fiction write best known for The Crow. He is an American writer, primarily of fantasy and science fiction and songs. He has also written one historical novel, a western, about Wyatt Earp, Wyatt in Wichita, and one non-fiction book, Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas. He has written novels, short stories, TV scripts and screenplays, and has published over 40 books and 8 short-story collections.

Assassination of Malcolm X


George Breitman - 1984
    Exposes the cover-up surrounding the murder of Malcolm X and probes once-secret FBI files that shed light on the government's hostility to him and point toward its complicity in the crime.

This Year in Jerusalem


Joel Gross - 1984
    According to intriguing reports I had heard, it was the custom, on their kibbutzim already established in Palestine, for boys and girls under the age of eighteen to shower together. Hashomer Hatza'ir members in Montreal included a boy I shall call Shloime Schneiderman, a high-school classmate of mine. In 1944, when we were still in eighth grade, Schloime enjoyed a brief celebrity after his photo appeared on the front page of the Montreal Herald. Following a two-cent rise in the price of chocolate bars, he had been a leader in a demonstration, holding high a placard that read: down with the 7cents chocolate bar. Hashomer Hatza'ir members wore uniforms at their meetings: blue shirts and neckerchiefs. "They had real court martials," wrote Marion Magid in a memoir about her days in Habonim in the Bronx in the early fifties, "group analysis, the girls were not allowed to wear lipstick." Whereas, in my experience, the sweetly scented girls who belonged to Young Judaea favored pearls and cashmere twinsets. They lived on leafy streets in the suburb of Outremont, in detached cottages that had heated towel racks, basement playrooms, and a plaque hanging on the wall behind the wet bar testifying to the number of trees their parents had paid to have planted in Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel.I joined Habonim -- the youth group of a Zionist political party, rooted in socialist doctrine -- shortly after my bar mitzvah, during my first year at Baron Byng High School. I had been recruited by a Room 41 classmate whom I shall call Jerry Greenfeld..."

Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War Two


Władysław Kozaczuk - 1984
    This new book makes clear for the first time the degree to which the British ULTRA program - and, consequently, the entire Allied "Secret War" effort - depended on the work of the Poles. Historians and the general public have had access to many exciting accounts of the role of ULTRA in winning the war; now we can read the authoritative account of the dramatic events which led to the successful start of the ULTRA operation.The breaking of the German Enigma machine cipher was perhaps the most spectacular event, in terms of difficulty and of consequences, in the history of cryptography ("secret writing") and cryptology (the study of secret writing, especially for purposes of decryptment - the "breaking" or "reading" of secret correspondence by a third party). The breaking of the Enigma machine cipher was so significant because the Enigma machine was such an essential part of the German war effort. In 1931-34, shortly after Hitler came to power, Enigma was adopted by the Germans as a basic, unitary cipher system for the armed forces as well as military intelligence (the Abwehr), S.S. formations, the security and political intelligence services (S.D.), and other agencies of the Third Reich.This book records the Polish contribution to the breaking of the Enigma code, both prior to the invasion of Poland and after, including the rather hair-raising adventures of some graduate mathematics students who pioneered work on Enigma, were the first to break Enigma (six years before the British ULTRA program), and assisted the British with ULTRA. Moreover, the book records the importance of cryptology throughout the war, recounting the role of ULTRA in the main European battles.-from the inside cover flaps

Churchill's Secret Agent


Josephine Butler - 1984
    This book is an exceptional story of one woman's multiple forays into occupied France at the personal request of Winston Churchill.