East Wind


Jack Winnick - 2015
    The president moves fast to prevent panic across the nation. The government receives an ominous threat from an anonymous Middle Eastern source: similar attacks will be launched upon other American cities unless all aid to Israel is terminated, virtually isolating the Jewish State and allowing its Arab neighbors to overrun it. The FBI, CIA and other federal organizations are called to action. A crack U. S. Israeli team is given the daunting assignment of uncovering the source of the threat and the identity of the next targeted city against a five day deadline. The team: Lara, a young female FBI computer whiz and Uri, a charismatic male Mossad field agent. Theirs is a breakneck chase across the country in a race against time and the unknown Islamist terrorists.

Berlin: Caught in the Mousetrap


Paul Grant - 2017
    People are fleeing East Berlin while they can. The East German authorities are ratcheting up the pressure on the "Bordercrossers". Klaus Schultz is handed documents outlining Ulbricht's plans to build a wall, but are they genuine? Impetuous journalist Jack Kaymer discovers an East Berlin warehouse brimming with concrete posts and barbed wire. The headstrong Eva Schultz continues to live in the eastern sector whilst working in the west. The Stasi coerce Jack to stop him publishing his story and take his girlfriend, Eva as the bargaining chip. In spite of their original enmity, Jack and Klaus work together to have Eva released before the border is closed, but Klaus' past comes back to haunt them. Can Jack and Klaus outwit the Stasi? Will they get Eva out alive? Meanwhile, Colonel Hans Erdmann of the People's Army is losing faith in the regime. His bosses want to put him out to grass. When they find Hans harder to dislodge than they anticipated, they resort to dirty tactics. Hans sees the end coming and decides it's time to get out. Their destinies are all firmly in the hands of the wily, KGB spymaster, Burzin and his arch rival General Dobrovsky. Set against the backdrop of the Berlin Crisis, "Caught in the Mousetrap" is a fast-paced thriller for the lovers of Cold War Berlin and those who enjoy a story in the Len Deighton mould, with a touch of Bernie Gunther thrown in. The story of the Schultz family has begun...2x Longlisted Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year. Winner CWA History Dagger.

The Tower of London


Anderson Caldwell - 2016
    Since lions were considered a suitable gift for royalty, one tower - the Lion Tower - was a menagerie. Many historic events, stately and ceremonial, pathetic or dreadful - from the murder of King Edward IV's young sons to the beheadings of Henry VIII's queens to the imprisonment of Elizabeth I - took place in the Tower. It was customary for kings and queens to spend the night, or a few days, in these apartments before their coronation; from there they proceeded to Westminster. Charles II's was the last; after that, the royal lodgings fell into disuse and were ultimately abandoned. Here is the vivid story of the Tower of London, the monarchs who slept there, and the men and women who lost their lives there.

Son of Hamas


Mosab Hassan Yousef - 2010
    The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence, and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader. In Son of Hamas, Mosab Yousef—now called “Joseph”—reveals new information about the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth about his own role, his agonizing separation from family and homeland, the dangerous decision to make his newfound faith public, and his belief that the Christian mandate to “love your enemies” is the only way to peace in the Middle East.

Burn After Reading: The Espionage History of World War II


Ladislas Farago - 1978
     It was fought in clandestine operations and through the daring acts of spies and saboteurs from both Allied and Axis forces. Ladislas Farago, a former US intelligence chief, uncovers the lengths that the various nations went to in order to win the war. Looking at each nation individually, from Britain with MI.5 to Germany and its division called Abwehr under Wilhelm Canaris, America with the O.S.S. to France’s Deuxième Bureau, Farago exposes how sophisticated and successful their intelligence services were. Burn After Reading explains how espionage and counter-intelligence was operated throughout the war, providing details on a number of missions that were undertaken. Farago, through a number of vivid biographical sketches, details how it was not just intelligence services that shaped espionage during World War Two, but also how individuals, military and civilian, made their impact. This fascinating work is essential reading for anyone interested in what Farago described as “a kind of Fourth Estate of war.” Ladislas Farago was a chief of research and planning in the U.S. Navy’s Special Warfare Branch before becoming an author. He wrote a number of best-selling books on history and espionage and a number of his works were made into films. Burn After Reading was first published in 1961 and he died in 1980.

Come Spy With Me


Max Allan Collins - 2020
    Sand’s real-life exploits inspired a very famous series of best-selling novels by a friend in the spy game.On his honeymoon with his new wife, Stacey Boldt – the heiress to a Texas oil fortune – they are interrupted by an unfriendly blast from the past.Now an executive with Boldt Oil in Houston, Sand finds himself, and his bride, pulled back into the world of espionage when JFK himself recruits him for a dangerous job in Cuba.Sand – and Mrs. Sand – will be caught up in everything from a Rat Pack party in Vegas hosted by a mobster to a Caribbean island where a deadly assassin has targeted El Presidente.Come Spy With Me is the first in The John Sand Series, invoking the best of the original James Bond spy thrillers.

The Spy With No Name: The Cold War and a Case of Stolen Identity (Kindle Single)


Jeff Maysh - 2017
    She was delighted that he had grown into a charming Dutch waiter in London. But Erwin van Haarlem was actually a dangerous Communist spy who had stolen her son’s identity to uncover British and American military secrets.In this true life spy thriller, award-winning journalist Jeff Maysh tracks down the former spy in Prague, who tells his remarkable story. Maysh skillfully reconstructs one of the most unusual cases in espionage history, as Erwin van Haarlem maintains his top secret mission for eleven years... while pretending to be a stranger’s son. Enter a world of betrayal, secret codes, invisible ink and mysterious radio messages, where nobody is beyond suspicion.Jeff Maysh investigates unusual true crimes and urban legends. His deeply immersive stories have appeared in publications including the Atlantic, Playboy, and Smithsonian. His Kindle Single, Handsome Devil, was one of Amazon’s ‘Best Books of 2016’. He is British-American and lives in Los Angeles.

The Puppet Masters: Spies, Traitors and the Real Forces Behind World Events


John Hughes-Wilson - 2004
    From France’s brilliant secret agent transvestite to the infamous Cambridge spy ring, ‘The Puppet Masters’ offers an entertaining and thought-provoking insight into the work – and treacheries – of the spies who shaped history. From the Old Testament’s honey-traps to WWII’s cryptography, from Elizabeth I to Osama bin Laden, the hidden hand of intelligence is exposed behind every critical decision. In this revised and updated edition, John Hughes-Wilson analyses the threat of the globalisation of terrorism and the role of intelligence in fighting the ‘War on Terror’. ‘The Puppet Masters’ provides the essential guide to history, intelligence and war, perfect for either curious layman or expert. “A powerful book… there should be a well-thumbed copy of this book on every general’s bedside table…” – The Spectator “John Hughes-Wilson has a lively pen and an eye for a good anecdote… an enjoyable romp through world history.” – The Sunday Telegraph A former senior intelligence officer, John Hughes-Wilson is an author and broadcaster specialising in military history and intelligence. He has published multiple works, including the best-selling ‘Military Intelligence Blunders’, while acting as a consultant for the United Nations, European Union, and the Ministry of Defence among other organisations. Endeavour Press is the UK's largest independent publisher of digital books.

The Crusades: A Very Brief History


Mark Black - 2012
    The Crusades started in 1095 when Pope Claremont preached the First Crusade at the Council of Claremont. The Pope's preaching led to thousands immediately affixing the cross to their garments and taking up arms; this book is the story of their journey.The Very Brief History series is intended to give the reader a short, concise account of the most important events in world history. Each book provides the reader with the essential facts concerning a particular event or person; no distractions, just the essential facts, allowing the reader to master the subject in the shortest time possible. With The Very Brief History series, anyone can become a history expert!

Faith, Unity, Discipline: The ISI of Pakistan


Hein Kiessling - 2016
    In 1979, the organisation's growing importance was felt during the Soviet war in Afghanistan , as it worked hand in glove with the CIA to support the mujahideen resistance, but its activities received little coverage in news media.Since that time, the ISI has projected its influence across the region in 1988 its involvement in Indian Kashmir came under increasing scrutiny, and by 1995 its mentoring of what became the Afghan Taliban was well attested. But it was the organisation's alleged links with Al Qaeda and the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, at the heart of Pakistan's military zone, that really threw it under the spotlight. These controversies and many more have dogged the ISI, including its role in Pakistan's testing of a nuclear weapon in 1998 and its links with A.Q. Khan.Offering fresh insights into the ISI as a domestic and international actor based on intimate knowledge of its inner workings and key individuals, this startlingly original book uncovers the hitherto shady world of Pakistan's secret service.

The Good Assassin: How a Mossad Agent and a Band of Survivors Hunted Down the Butcher of Latvia


Stephan Talty - 2020
    Before World War II, Herbert Cukurs was a famous figure in his small Latvian city, the “Charles Lindbergh of his country.” But by 1945, he was the Butcher of Latvia, a man who murdered some thirty thousand Latvian Jews. Somehow, he dodged the Nuremberg trials, fleeing to South America after war’s end.   By 1965, as a statute of limitations on all Nazi war crimes threatened to expire, Germany sought to welcome previous concentration camp commanders, pogrom leaders, and executioners, as citizens. The global pursuit of Nazi criminals escalated to beat the looming deadline, and Mossad, the Israeli national intelligence agency, joined the cause. Yaakov Meidad, the brilliant Mossad agent who had kidnapped Adolf Eichmann three years earlier, led the mission to assassinate Cukurs in a desperate bid to block the amnesty. In a thrilling undercover operation unrivaled by even the most ambitious spy novels, Meidad traveled to Brazil in an elaborate disguise, befriended Cukurs and earned his trust, while negotiations over the Nazi pardon neared a boiling point.The Good Assassin uncovers this little-known chapter of Holocaust history and the pulse-pounding undercover operation that brought Cukurs to justice.

Operation Thunderbolt: Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History


Saul David - 2015
    On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe, in Uganda -- ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality: its commander, Yoni Netanyahu (brother of Israel's Prime Minister.) Three of the country's greatest leaders -- Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin -- planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

Codename: Hero: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation


Jeremy Duns - 2012
    His first attempt was to approach two American students in Moscow. He handed them a bulky envelope and pleaded with them to deliver it to the American embassy. Inside was an offer to work as a 'soldier-warrior' for the free world. MI6 and the CIA ran Penkovsky jointly, in an operation that ran through the showdown over Berlin and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He provided crucial intelligence, including photographs of rocket manuals that helped Kennedy end the Cuba crisis and avert a war. Codenamed HERO, Penkovsky is widely seen as the most important spy of the Cold War, and the CIA-MI6 operation, run as the world stood on the brink of nuclear destruction, has never been bettered. But how exactly did the Russians detect Penkovsky, and why did they let him continue his contact with his handlers for months afterwards? Could it be that the whole Cuban Missile Crisis was part of a Soviet deception operation - and has another betrayal hidden in plain sight all these years? Thrilling, evocative and hugely controversial, Codename: Hero blows apart the myths surrounding one of the Cold War's greatest spy operations.

The Palestinian Delusion: The Catastrophic History of the Middle East Peace Process


Robert Spencer - 2019
    This is the history of what was attempted, why those failures were inevitable, and what must be done instead.Every new American President has a plan to bring about peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and every one fails. Every “peace process” has failed in its primary objective: to establish a stable and lasting accord between the two parties, such that they can live together side-by-side in friendship rather than enmity. But why? And what can be done instead? While this failure is a consistent pattern stretching back decades, there is virtually no public discussion or even basic understanding of the primary reason for this failure. The Palestinian Delusion is unique in situating the Israeli/Palestinian conflict within the context of the global jihad that has found renewed impetus in the latter portion of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. Briskly recounting the tumultuous history of the “peace process,” Robert Spencer demonstrates that the determination of diplomats, policymakers, and negotiators to ignore this aspect of the conflict has led the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the world down numerous blind alleys. This has often only exacerbated, rather than healed, this conflict.   The Palestinian Delusion  offers a general overview of the Zionist settlement of Palestine, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the Arab Muslim reaction to these events. It explores the dramatic and little-known history of the various peace efforts—showing how and why they invariably broke down or failed to be implemented fully. The Palestinian Delusion also provides shocking evidence from the Palestinian media, as well as statements from the Palestinian leadership, showing that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will never work. But there is still cause for hope. Spencer delineates a realistic, viable alternative to the endless and futile “peace process,” that shows how the Jewish State and the Palestinian Arabs can truly coexist in peace—without illusions or unrealistic expectations.

Yamani: The Inside Story


Jeffrey Robinson - 1988
    As the petroleum minister for Saudi Arabia and the leading force behind OPEC, he was the biggest player in the world's biggest business - oil.His is a story of ultimate political power, of the Middle East, of the "oil weapon" and the embargoes, of a brilliant young Saudi lawyer who emerged from the desert sands to walk comfortably through the halls of power in Washington DC, in London, in Paris, and throughout much of the rest of the world.It is also the story of a man who, in 1975, faced sudden death not once but twice. His mentor and lifelong support, the legendary King Faisal, was shot dead at his feet; and nine months later Yamani himself was kidnapped by the terrorist who was known as, "Carlos the Jackal," only narrowly escaping with his life.Co-starring Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, Yassir Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Colonel Qaddafi, Jimmy Carter, the CIA, the Shah of Iran, Ronald Reagan and Nat King Cole, this is the up close and personal story of a man who strode across the world's stage a superstar in the media, was heralded as "the best friend the West had in the Middle East," and yet became the face of the oil embargoes that threatened to cripple Western economies.A brilliant and enormously charming man who could move markets with a few simple words, Sheikh Yamani earned the respect of political leaders in the West while suffering the jealousy of kings and princes back home. His sudden and abrupt firing in October 1986 made front page headlines throughout the world.Written in 1988 with the unprecedented cooperation of Sheikh Yamani - meeting with him regularly over the course of a year in five countries - plus hundreds of interviews with the people who knew him best, Jeffrey Robinson's gripping and intimate account opens a door to the very heart of one of the world's most controversial and fascinating statesmen.Heralded in the West as "the best book ever written about the oil business," and banned in Saudi Arabia when it was first published, this #1 international bestseller is now, finally, available as an eBook for the first time.*** "A sizzler" - Today*** "Bestselling writer Jeffrey Robinson has taken the lid off Yamani's life" - Sunday Express*** "Rich in entertaining anecdote" - Financial Times*** "Superb" - The Sunday Times*** "Robinson provides the reader with a portrait of a man who, while claiming he was nothing more than a simple Bedouin, became a deft politician and media personality indelibly associated in the public mind with the rise in OPEC economic power and Saudi Arabia's leading position in global oil production" - Washington Report*** "In crisp, straightforward sentences, Robinson describes how Ahmed Zaki Yamani's close relationship with King Faisal, and his own urbane intelligence, made him the dominant industry figure worldwide" - Publishers Weekly*** "Yamani emerges from the book as a man of intelligence and charm, deeply devoted to his family and his Muslim faith, who rose from a Mecca boyhood to become a jet-setting world figure and custodian of one-third of the non-communist world's oil" - Houston Post*** "Riveting, fast paced" - Globe and Mail*** "Robinson weaves a fascinating tale" - San Francisco Chronicle*** "A colorful, well rounded biography." - Philadelphia Inquirer*** "Oil gagsters were referring to the hot book as "the OPEC version of the Andy Warhol Diaries" - Liz Smith*** "A Fascinating portrait of this master politician" - Wall Street Journal