A Brief History of the Spy cover art

A Brief History of the Spy

Brief Histories

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

A Brief History of the Spy

By: Paul Simpson
Narrated by: Roger Davis
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

From the end of the Second World War to the present day, the world has changed immeasurably. The art of spying has changed too, as spies have reacted to changing threats.

Here you will find the fascinating stories of real-life spies, both famous and obscure, from either side of the Iron Curtain, along with previously secret details of War on Terror operations. Detailed stories of individual spies are set in the context of the development of the major espionage agencies, interspersed with anecdotes of gadgets, trickery, honeytraps and assassinations worthy of any fictional spy. A closing section examines the developing New Cold War, as Russia and the West confront each other once again.

Paul Simpson is the author or co-author of over a dozen non-fiction books including an acclaimed round-up of conspiracy theories. He has edited and contributed to numerous international entertainment magazines and currently oversees news and reviews website SciFiBulletin.com

©2013 Paul Simpson (P)2013 Audible Ltd 20th Century Freedom & Security Military Modern Politics & Government Espionage
All stars
Most relevant  
I have listened to most of the Brief History series and in general I've found them very entertaining and informative. However, this is poorest if the series I've listened to. It only starts after the second word war and concentrates on the USA, USSR and the UK. A lot of the information is based on published history. Especially towards the later part sends to deal as much with the military as with the spys.
it should really be titled "secret services in the Col War and the 21s century.
Performance is generally quite good but with some strange pronunciations at times.

Only starts after WW2 and mainly rehashes already

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.