Book picks similar to
American Sea Power in the Old World: The United States Navy in European and Near Eastern Waters, 1865-1917 by William N. Still Jr.
wwi-naval-history
diplomacy
espionage
maritime
Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower
Henry M. Paulson Jr. - 2014
Written in the same anecdote-rich, page-turning style as Paulson's bestselling memoir, On the Brink , DEALING WITH CHINA is certain to become the classic and definitive examination of engaging an economic superpower. Hank Paulson has dealt with China unlike any other foreigner. As head of Goldman Sachs, Paulson had a pivotal role in opening up China to private enterprise. Then, as Treasury secretary, he created the Strategic Economic Dialogue with what is now the world's second-largest economy. While negotiating with China on economic reforms, he safeguarded the teetering U.S. financial system. Paulson has worked with scores of top Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping, China's most powerful man in decades. Now, in DEALING WITH CHINA, he takes readers behind closed doors to witness the future of China's state-controlled capitalism.
Red Sparrow Trilogy eBook Boxed Set (The Red Sparrow Trilogy)
Jason Matthews - 2018
Forced to become a “Sparrow”—a spy trained in the art of seduction to elicit information from unsuspecting marks—she’s been assigned to Nathaniel Nash, a CIA officer who handles the organization’s most sensitive Russian intelligence. The action in The Red Sparrow Trilogy careens between Russia, France, Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and the United States as these two young intelligence officers, trained in their respective spy schools, collide in a charged atmosphere of deception and a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens both their careers and consumes intelligence agencies from Moscow to the highest offices in the US government. In each book they confront not only the shadows and intrigues of the Russian and American intelligence networks but highly trained, cold-blooded killers assigned to destroy them. With a plot ripped from tomorrow’s headlines, and written with sophisticated brio, The Red Sparrow Trilogy has been hailed as a monumental accomplishment “as suspenseful and cinematic as the best spy movies” (The Philadelphia Inquirer); “fans of the genre’s masters including John le Carré and Ian Fleming will happily embrace Matthews’s central spy” (USA TODAY). Collected together, the three novels form a stunning masterwork of suspense, intrigue, sex, and violence.
A Spy In Vienna: A Paul Muller Novel of Political Intrigue
William N. Walker - 2018
It is the second Paul Muller novel set in Europe before World War II. Muller is recruited to become a spy to resist Hitler's campaign to absorb Austria into the German Reich and, from his perch in Vienna, finds himself at the epicenter of the desperate struggle to preserve Austrian independence. Muller plays a dangerous game in helping Austria oppose Hitler's demands and he hatches a bold plan to divert Austria's gold reserves so they stay out of Hitler's grasp. The novel captures this gripping drama in rich and vivid detail as political pressures mount and the threat of war looms. A Spy in Vienna re-creates for readers the fraught atmosphere of 1930's, when the threat of Nazi violence hung over Europe. Aficionados of that epoch will relish the authenticity of the novel, which reawakens the tensions and turbulence of the era, with its undercurrent of violence and fear. The narrative recaptures the urgency of the crisis as repeated confrontations escalated to an explosive conclusion. Today, sitting at the safe remove of eighty years, we know the outcome. Hitler's bald aggression prevailed; his takeover of Austria became a crucial stepping stone leading to World War II. But the characters in the novel know none of this; for them, the events they are caught up in are frightening and bewildering, confronting them with dire choices and fearful consequences. The novel transports the reader into that contemporary maelstrom of intrigue and danger—combining real history with a compelling story. Admirers of Paul Muller in Danzig will revel in his new adventures in Vienna, as once again he confronts Nazi tyranny.
The Other Side of Deception: A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad's Secret Agenda
Victor Ostrovsky - 1994
A former Israeli agent relates the story of his career as a double agent and his disruption of shocking Mossad assassination plans.
Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War and American Diplomacy
The New York Times - 2011
government diplomatic cables and battlefield reports. The New York Times played a crucial role in breaking the WikiLeaks story, and “Open Secrets” is the definitive chronicle of the documents’ release and the controversy that ensued. It includes detailed analyses of the documents by Times correspondents; opinion essays by Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd and others; and the full text of all the cables and war logs posted on The Times's Web site, along with 27 new cables selected for this volume. It also includes an essay in which the executive editor of The Times, Bill Keller, explains how the newspaper came to publish documents obtained by WikiLeaks, and why it did; expanded profiles of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks's founder, and Bradley Manning, the Army private suspected of being his source; and original essays on what the fracas has revealed about American diplomacy and government secrecy. A legal and technological thriller and a primer on world politics, "Open Secrets" is also a field guide to how information and power are wielded today, and why it matters.
Agent Hill Super Boxset
James Hunt - 2017
These stories have accumulated over 150+ five-star reviews and have been boxed together for the first time! That's TWO COMPLETE BOOK SERIES totaling 6 NOVELS! Agent Sarah Hill loves her job. As the number one agent at the GSF, the most covert spy agency in the world that operates beyond the reach of any government, Agent Hill has to balance locating the mastermind behind the attack on the global power grid and finding her brother and his family. But for her, they’re one in the same.
For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence & the American Presidency from Washington to Bush
Christopher Andrew - 1995
From the co-author of KGB: The Inside Story and an acknowledged authority on the subject comes "the most important book ever written about American intelligence."--David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers and Hitler's Spies
Where Seagulls Dare
Mark Farrer - 2016
SABOTAGE. THEFT. PANTO. What's the connection between a scheming Russian oligarch and his bungling henchmen, an ardent eco-protester and a faded Hollywood bombshell? And why are they leaving crime scenes all over Scotland - from Largs to Orkney, Stornoway to the Borders? And what has any of this got to do with Cullen? He just wants to be bloody left alone. It’s a series of bizarre mishaps in a plot full of incident, humour and Scottish salmon. Oh no it isn’t! OH YES IT IS!
JFK's Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA, and the Sino-Indian War
Bruce Riedel - 2015
Kennedy. But the same week the world stood transfixed by the possibility of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, Kennedy was also consumed by a war that has escaped history’s attention, yet still reverberates significantly today: the Sino-Indian conflict.As well-armed and equipped troops from the People’s Republic of China surged into Indian-held territory in October 1962, Kennedy ordered an emergency airlift of supplies to the Indian army. At the same time, he engaged in diplomatic talks that kept the neighboring Pakistanis out of the fighting. The conflict came to an end with a unilateral Chinese cease-fire, relieving Kennedy of a decision to intervene militarily in support of India.Bruce Riedel, a CIA and National Security Council veteran, provides the first full narrative of this crisis, which played out during the tense negotiations with Moscow over Cuba. He also includes another, nearly forgotten episode of US espionage during the war between India and China: covert US support of Tibetan opposition to Chinese occupation of Tibet. He details how the United States, beginning in 1957, trained and parachuted Tibetan guerrillas into Tibet to fight Chinese military forces. The covert operation to help precipitate the conflict but the United States did not end its support of it until relations between the United States and China were normalized in the 1970s.Riedel tells this story of war, diplomacy, and covert action with authority and perspective. He draws on newly declassified letters between Kennedy and Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru along with the diaries and memoirs of key players and other sources make this the definitive account of JFK’s forgotten crisis. This is, Riedel writes, Kennedy’s finest hour as you have never read it before.
Invasion USA
William W. Johnstone - 2006
Johnstone delivers an all-new action-packed series torn from today's headlines in which the greatest danger is not posed by those kept out of America-but by those let in.INVASION USALittle Tuscon, Arizona, just twenty miles north of the border, is a small town whose citizens believe in God, country, and hard work. But their peaceful existence is about to be shattered by Mara Salvatrucha-the murderous Central American gang known as M-15.Culled from the scum of the earth, M-15 runs a drug smuggling operation through the ill-protected border, terrorizing defenseless communities into submission through theft, rape, and murder.With Washington turning a blind eye to the crisis in Little Tucson, Vietnam vet Tom Brannon takes the law into his own hands and forms his own volunteer army, which he names The Patriot Project.But now all hell's about to break loose, because M-15 is coming back to take out the Patriots. Outnumbered and outgunned, with the fate of their families, their homes, and their very country at stake, Tom Brannon and his men will meet the enemy. It's high noon in Arizona-and time to take America back once more.
Exploding Data: Reclaiming Our Cybersecurity in the Digital Age
Michael Chertoff - 2018
And yet, as daily events underscore, we are ever more vulnerable to cyber-attack.In this bracing book, Michael Chertoff makes clear that our laws and policies surrounding the protection of personal information, written for an earlier time, need to be completely overhauled in the Internet era. On the one hand, the collection of data--more widespread by business than by government, and impossible to stop--should be facilitated as an ultimate protection for society. On the other, standards under which information can be inspected, analyzed, or used must be significantly tightened. In offering his compelling call for action, Chertoff argues that what is at stake is not so much the simple loss of privacy, which is almost impossible to protect, but of individual autonomy--the ability to make personal choices free of manipulation or coercion. Offering colorful stories over many decades that illuminate the three periods of data gathering we have experienced, Chertoff explains the complex legalities surrounding issues of data collection and dissemination today, and charts a path that balances the needs of government, business, and individuals alike.
The Blood of Kings
Douglas Seacat - 2016
Dominating the field of battle are rare individuals who have mastered both arcane and martial combat and who boldly lead mighty armies in the ongoing struggle to claim victory over these ancient lands.Three men who would be king threaten to sunder a kingdom, provoking a war that will drown its lands in blood. Amid the backdrop of a new Cygnaran civil war, the fate of the kingdom depends on the outcome of a covert struggle between two powerful warcasters—the gun mage Allister Caine and the mercenary warlord Asheth Magnus. Caine faces a moral quandary as he seeks to kill the bastard son of Cygnar's former king, knowing he must end an innocent life to preserve the peace. But Magnus is equally determined to see the bastard crowned as king—and is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. Regardless of who emerges the victor, the blood of kings must be spilled to end an otherwise interminable war.
Cover of Darkness
Sian Ann Bessey - 2002
While Fran spends her days sketching the majestic Welsh mountains, castles, and the picturesque sea, Megan explores the historical sites and landmarks that dot the countryside. The two women soon discover that there are other Americans staying at their hotel. Initially, Joe Marks and Richard Garrett come across as perfect gentlemen. But soon, it will become terrifyingly obvious to both Megan and Fran that appearances can be deceiving. Sian Ann Bessey follows her best-selling novel Forgotten Notes with a breathtaking story about an innocent vacation that becomes the adventure of a lifetime. Filled with international intrigue, action, espionage, faith, and prayer, Cover of Darkness is a page turning thriller that you will not be able to forget.
The Beria Papers
Alan Williams - 1973
He was Stalin’s closest henchman. At one time he had a million armed men under his direct personal command. He was a sadist and a mass murderer. And he was also a vicious rapist with a compulsive appetite for young girls. This is possible: Beria may have kept a private diary in which he lovingly recorded his sexual activities, his murders, various scandals involving men now highly placed in the Soviet hierarchy — and the true facts of Stalin’s death. This is certain: The publication of Beria’s diary would cause the greatest political scandal the world has ever known — and set off a deadly manhunt for those responsible for its release … The private diaries of Beria — Stalin’s notorious chief of secret police — are a lurid, shattering indictment of Russian political methods and contain a new account of what really happened at Stalin’s death. They confirm Beria as one of the greatest human monsters of our time, both in his personal life and in his political manipulations of top Soviet politicians, some of whom are in power today. The Beria Papers are sold to an American publisher for three million dollars. On publication they are an immediate, sensational bestseller. They cause panic in Moscow and outrage everywhere — even in the upper echelons of the U.S. government, where there is fear that such revelations will create a dangerous precedent in smear campaigns against world leaders. So the world’s two most powerful secret services — the Soviet KGB and the American CIA — are ordered to track down the book’s origin. Their investigations range from New York to Washington, to London, Moscow, Munich, Budapest, Vienna and finally to a small island in the Indian Ocean where the activities of the two secret agencies come horrifically together. But can The Beria Papers possibly be a hoax? Praise for The Beria Papers: ‘Intriguing and gripping … compulsively exciting’ -
Sunday Express
‘Both exciting and really convincing … fascinating. Part adventure, part thriller, part a documentary of might-have-been history, The Beria Papers is the best thing of its kind for a long time.’ -
Sunday Times
‘The most interesting and original thriller since The Odessa File … a sharp and intelligent thriller that cries out for filming.’ -
Daily Mail
‘Intriguing and gripping … not merely compulsively exciting entertainment, it is also so well researched and the background appears so absolutely authentic that the whole fantastic story could just be true.’ -
Sunday Express
Alan Emlyn Williams(born 1935) is an ex-foreign correspondent, novelist and writer of thrillers. He was educated at Stowe, Grenoble and Heidelberg Universities, and at King's College, Cambridge where he graduated in 1957 with a B.A. in modern languages. His father was the actor and writer Emlyn Williams.
Act of Vengeance
Michael Jecks - 2012
Cut adrift and superfluous in a changing world, he was discarded by British Intelligence. Then, after 9/11, rapid recruitment brought in a rash of new, talented young men and women. They were trained and put into the field swiftly - often too swiftly. And then the mistakes started to happen. Mistakes that should have been avoided. Mistakes that could be embarrassing to Her Majesty's Government. Thus, Jack was brought back into the intelligence fold, heading up a new team of "Scavengers" - experienced agents who could be sent to clear up the messes left behind by newer recruits before evidence incriminating MI5 and MI6 could be discovered. Jack is sent to tidy up one last case. In a quiet Alaskan backwater, a man named Danny Lewin has committed suicide with a handgun. But this was no ordinary suicide. This was an agent who held secrets. A man haunted by his past interrogating prisoners in Iraq. And British Intelligence fear that he put his secrets down on paper. For Jack, his mission is straightforward. He must travel to Alaska and retrieve Lewin’s journal before someone else can lay their hands on it. Before long, Jack realises that there are individuals just as skilled and determined as himself searching for the journal - individuals who are willing to kill in order to get what they want. Case is drawn into a manhunt that drags him into the murky underworld of contemporary espionage and leaves him questioning who his allies and who is enemies are. The rules of the game have changed since the days of the Cold War. Now Case must impose his own rules. Scavenger rules. Praise for Michael Jecks: 'An instant classic British spy novel - mature, thoughtful, and intelligent ... but also raw enough for our modern times. Highly recommended.' - Lee Child, author of the Reacher series 'More magic by the master of the medieval' - Quintin Jardine 'Michael Jecks is a national treasure' - Scotland on Sunday 'A textbook example of how to blend action and detection in a historical' - Publishers Weekly Michael Jecks is the author of the bestselling Knights Templar series, comprising thirty-two novels starring Baldwin de Furnshill. Fields of Glory is the first novel in a new trilogy, set around the Hundred Years' War. A regular speaker at library and literary events, he is a past Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Exeter University. He was shortlisted for the Harrogate/Theakston’s Old Peculier prize for the best crime novel of the year 2007, the year Allan Guthrie won. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor. To find out more visit his website http://www.michaeljecks.com, follow him on twitter @michaeljecks, or find him on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Michael.Jecks...