  | Book Details Title: The Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal |
Book DescriptionReview “A fascinating study of betrayal, the foibles and compulsions that motivated so many traitors to betray their countries and compromise classified information. Definitely an essential handbook for the layman as well as the mole hunter and counterintelligence professional.” —Nigel West “There are very few ex-intelligence officers who know their stuff better than Michael Smith. If you want to know why spies put their lives in danger, this is the book for you.”— Andy McNab, author of the bestseller Bravo Two Zero and the Nick Stone thrillers “A forensic, enthralling, and extremely accurate analysis of what motivates spies. Bags of history. Bags of intrigue. The Anatomy of a Spy is an unprecedented and instant classic.”—Matthew Dunn, former MI6 officer and author of the Spycatcher series and Ben Sign series“The book is rich in historical anecdotes [and] tackles current affairs, including chapters on what may or may not be going on in American halls of power today. It’s a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in traditional spycraft, both past and ongoing.”—Criminal Element “A wide-ranging survey of the reasons why people spy that mixes the familiar with the less well-known, corrects numerous myths, and provides many new insights by a master intelligence expert.”—Andrew Lownie, author of Stalin’s Englishman“A lot of people will do a lot of things for money and a lot of people will do things for spite or ego. There are also people who do things for an ideal, and wouldn’t take your money if you shoved it down their throats.”—John le Carré, from Agent Running in the FieldPraise for THE EMPEROR’S CODES “Tells the full riveting story of the breaking of the Japanese codes. An enthralling tale, the stuff of John le Carré or Robert Harris, but true.”—Daily Telegraph “Smith writes a real-life thriller that unfolds like a classic spy story. An engrossing and exciting recounting of an obscure but important facet of World War II.”—BooklistPraise for FOLEY: THE SPY WHO SAVED 10,000 JEWS “Gripping. An outstanding book. The last word on the Final Solution.”—Mail on Sunday “A fascinating book. Smith writes well: coolly and unexaggeratedly, sensibly and authoritatively.”—Alan Judd, Daily Telegraph “‘Very effectively conveys the atmosphere of cumulative danger experienced by Jews in Germany under the Nazis.”— The Times “In his splendid book, Smith has done a fine service in putting the full facts on record.”—Chapman Pincher, Western Daily Press “One of the greatest untold stories of heroism and humanity from the Second World War.”—Evening Mail Praise for KILLER ELITE “Well written and authoritatively sourced, Killer Elite is the first detailed account of a special operations unit that Smith regards as America’s most effective.”— Sunday Telegraph “An extensively researched and crisply written exposé . . . An important primer for anyone hoping to understand the successes and failures of U.S. intelligence in the last twenty-five years.” ―Publishers Weekly “Smith lives up to his reputation as an expert in his field.”—Bangkok Post “We have the SAS. The Americans have ‘the Activity’, a top-secret special operations unit forming and re-forming itself under code-names such as Torn Victor. They are a shadowy body, but Michael Smith tells their story with style and authority.” —Daily Telegraph “The author writes compellingly and has clearly done his homework. It’s hard to put Killer Elite down once you start reading; it will educate, amaze and excite you, mainly because you’ve heard about most of these missions before – just not in this much detail.”—Air Force News Read more About the Author Michael Smith spent a decade in British intelligence before becoming a journalist, first with the BBC and then with the Daily Telegraph and 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, and 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 and a member of the Historical Advisory Group of the Bletchley Park Trust. He lives in Oxfordshire in England. Read more Customers Review: My friends and I swap recommendations in true crime. Well, I have a new non-fiction recommendation that edges into that genre. (Taken from my social media post about the book.)I’ve had this sitting on my NetGalley account for a while and cracked it open today. And was sucked right in.If you read thrillers, write them, or want to add a touch of spy world into your works, ya gotta read -Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal, by Michael SmithHow the Russians say that Americans really aren’t good at this game because of their “ethics.” How Israel got a hold of the MIG fighter that helped them win the 6-Day’s War and then turned it over to the USA. That was in exchange for Mossad trying to recruit agents and murdering them when they said no, inconveniently in Texas.He starts with the oldest trick in the book – the honey traps and spying for sex. How the Russians are the masters of it and how they pulled the first CIA agent in Russia into their web.But this guy was so brazen that even when they set up a hooker sting made to look like a crime scene, he didn’t even flinch. The Russians finally narced him out to his bosses back in DC.A junior officer in the British Foreign Service turns spy because he’s mad about how he’s been snubbed by the elites and not invited to embassy parties.And how the one key element to recruiting a spy and keeping a spy isn’t money or sex – it’s listening to them and making them feel important.And some of the greatest betrayals have been by women who got pulled into “Romeo Traps” by men who knew how to exploit their need for love, affection, and affirmation. Who knows more about an operation than the boss’ secretary? Even something as simple as “So, when is your boss out of town so we can sneak off to my cabin?”There is a ton of detail and, like many of these books, it can get windy in spots but I am fascinated by spies so it pulled me right along.And the key things you learn apply to all types of writing. Why do cops, lawyers, doctors, etc go wrong and betray their oaths and principles?MICE (Money, Ideology, Compromise, Ego)Readers will love the insights into why otherwise good people go bad and writers will gain new strengths and material to make their characters more complex. Check. It. Out.
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