To write a world history of intelligence, from the dawn of recorded history to the present day, is a daunting task. To make such a work accurate, comprehensive, digestible and startling, and all in a single volume, is a stellar achievement. But that is what Christopher Andrew has done in The Secret World .--Edward Lucas, The Times Both brilliant in its sweep and near-miraculous in the detail and confident judgements provided on two and a half millennia of spying. It covers everything from the argument for a professional intelligence service in a second-century BC Indian treatise on government, the Arthashastra, to the growth of religiously based terrorism in the 1980s and 1990s . a crowning triumph--John Lloyd, Financial Times The most comprehensive narrative of intelligence compiled: the author's breadth and depth of knowledge are unrivalled--Max Hastings, Sunday Times The doyen of intelligence historians--Adam Sisman, New Statesman A serious piece of scholarship . a magisterial book. It is designed for the lay reader, as much as for the expert; the scale, breadth and depth of the work confirm Christopher Andrew's position as the great Yoda of intelligence studies--Michael S Goodman, Literary Review Full of intriguing facts and pleasing anecdotes .

the subject is important and perennially fascinating--Rodric Braithwaite, Spectator There are important lessons for spymasters everywhere in this brilliant book. Christopher Andrew, who has spent a lifetime supervising the world's largest school of postgraduate research into intelligence history, delivers a stunning secret archaeology of a subject that he himself helped to create--Richard J. Aldrich, Times Literary Supplement The signal achievement of The Secret World is to illuminate how understanding the work of the cryptanalysts and intelligence officers - both past and present - is key to developing a granular understanding of historical events. It offers us a vital perspective--Huw Dylan, BBC History Magazine.