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The Secret World

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The Secret World

By: Christopher Andrew
Narrated by: Laurence Kennedy
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About this listen

The history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The codebreakers at Bletchley Park, the most successful World War II intelligence agency, were completely unaware that their predecessors in earlier moments of national crisis had broken the codes of Napoleon during the Napoleonic wars and those of Spain before the Spanish Armada.

Those who do not understand past mistakes are likely to repeat them. Intelligence is a prime example. At the outbreak of World War I, the grasp of intelligence shown by US President Woodrow Wilson and British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith was not in the same class as that of George Washington during the Revolutionary War and leading 18th-century British statesmen.

In this book, distinguished historian Christopher Andrew recovers much of the lost intelligence history of the past three millennia - and shows its relevance today.

©2018 Christopher Andrew (P)2018 Audible, Ltd Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government World Espionage War Middle Ages Imperialism Royalty Russia Interwar Period Latin American Soviet Union Self-Determination United Kingdom Middle East Iran Africa Winston Churchill Imperial Japan Socialism British Empire Crusade

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All stars
Most relevant  
entertaining and well read history..pacy and all encompassing ..as usual one is aghast at how traitors who damaged this country are allowed to get away scot free..finger as ever point at Roger Hollis as being a traitor ( an auadable version of 'spycatcher ' long overdue)

authoritative history

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Most foreign words and names are mispronounced, sometimes very confusingly and always irritatingly. Please record another version!

Mispronunciations galore

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This is a work of monumental scholarship ranging from Moses to the post-9/11 world. At some 36 hours in length, it is not for the faint-hearted and I decided to break off in the middle and refresh the palate with the sorbet of a short novel (Ian McEwan's Nutshell in an excellent narration by Rory Kinnear) so that I could return with renewed vigour to Christopher Andrews thorough revealing of the world of intelligence. Like any book of its span, you'll learn about a lot more than the world of intelligence along the way - no spoilers...
Towards the end, I suddenly wondered why there was no mention of the Lockerbie bombing (Pan Am Flight 103) from 1988 and it altered occurred to me that, at the time of writing, the subject matter may well still have been under the UK's 30-year rule. What led me to this supposition was that later events were covered, but not UK ones.
There are many errors of editing in this work - most in the form of repeated sentences - an easy mistake to make during editing. I'd encourage potential listeners to grin and bear it. Think of the time and cost of editing the average music CD which, at the most, lasts 80 minutes. This book around 27 times that length.
I've since bought Christopher Andrew's Defence of the Realm - the official history of MI5 and am looking forward to reading that.

Thorough

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Incredible detail in this book tracing the development and history intelligence over centuries.

At time’s it is a challenge as it is so detailed but any student of intelligence will want this as an essential guide and reliable reference book.

Surprised to see so little in the UK period of 1970s - 2010s onwards though. The development of intelligence against terrorism in NI or Soviet counter intelligence might have have added some immediacy to readers.

Heavy at times but quality research

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Very interesting. The author has a few phrases that he rather mechanically comes back to again and again which i felt could have been better written. Not very well edited.

Editing poor

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This is a truly intriguing and educational book, with a dry but strong narration. There are some appalling production issues with the recording though, with some sections so badly edited together it completely distracts from what is being said.

Fascinating.

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A bit dry at times but overall very interesting, it's a shame that the many issues over the past few decades only received a passing mention. I can only imagine what else could be uncovered for a similar volume on present events

Interesting but dry at times

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This is not an easy book to listen to as it skips from one period to another multiple times almost every paragraph. It is as if it has been written not as a book to inform but as a monologue to show the authors breadth of knowledge. Its a great shame because it seems like it could be a very interesting book but it isn't because its so full of pointless filler and so scattered that its just rather boring.

A very badly structured book.

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A very deep look at espionage which is well delivered. The ever so slightly annoying editing is a distraction but should not stop you listening if you are interested in the topic

Deep and irritating editing

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As a Christopher Andrew fan, I had very high hopes for this title and, in terms of the written content, I was hugely impressed. The immense scope of this work is clearly expressed and obsessively well researched. Alas, as is so often the way, the audiobook is let down by some awkward and, dare I say, inappropriate narration. The accents, such as 1930s “American” and a very “jowelly” Churchill were not to my taste, detracted attention, and at times were bordering on culturally insensitive. To make matters worse, there were also a plethora of mispronounced names and words, some of which changed later in the book and not always in the correct direction. There were also some editing slips, but these were minor.

In short, if you are a fan of intelligence history or Christopher Andrew, you will enjoy this title, and, if committed to an audiobook, you will probably enjoy it, but be forewarned you will at times shake your head in dismay at some elementary mistakes and a slightly cringeworthy performance.

I should have bought the hardback

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