Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History

By: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius

Step into the real world of the spy with this detailed and unforgettable tour of the millennia-long history and enduring legacy of espionage and covert operations. While most of us associate this top-secret subject with popular fiction and film, its true story is more fascinating, surprising, and important than you could possibly imagine.

These 24 thrilling lectures survey how world powers have attempted to work in the shadows to gain secret information or subvert enemies behind the scenes. Filled with stories and insights that will change the way you think about world history's most defining events, this course lets you peer inside a subject whose truths most people are unaware of.

Professor Liulevicius introduces you to the inner workings of covert organizations, including the Oprichnina, a feared secret service established by tsar Ivan the Terrible in the 1500s in an effort to cleanse Russia of treasonous activities; the CIA, established in 1947 by President Truman to replace the Office of Secret Services to be in charge of all intelligence collection – and which had an embarrassing early history; and Mossad, Israel's version of the CIA, which won a series of key intelligence victories during the cold war and over terror attacks and hostage crises in the second half of the 20th century.

You'll also meet famous – and infamous – spies, including Sir Francis Walsingham, Mata Hari, and Kim Philby. In this stirring series of lectures, you'll study the psychological motives behind spies, the ethics of cyber warfare and corporate espionage, the question of whether we now live in a surveillance society, and more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses

The best course so far

The professor had my attention all the time and I absorbed every single word. To me this was a history course with a twist.

Worthwhile, period.

Great lecture series. Enjoy a well prepared series, excellent world history and let your imagination go.

Heavy on Espionage - Light on Covert Ops

Ehhh - it was alright. I found it pretty heavy on espionage and lacking in the covert operations the title suggests. Perhaps a good start for someone just becoming interested in the topic, but a bit lacking for anyone who has done some previous research.

Amazing

My favorite by far!
Thank you for this production.
I highly recommend it for intelligence education.

Interesting

Very interesting, learned something and could relate to many of the subjects as I remember them from the time they happened.

Espionage history

This was very well done and intriguing. I love the humor and the subject throughout it as everything was tied together. Even if you on the surface are not interested in spying or the history of espionage it creates a beautiful history of war and enemies.

Wow! What a fun lecture series!

If like me, you love spy movies and novels, this is the course for you. I learned a lot and also scratched my entertainment itch. It also got me thinking about many of the episodes and wanting to research more - the Cambridge Spy Ring, the Ace of Spies, the American Cold War spies (or were they?) who were prosecuted in the 50s.

Really fun and looking forward to listening to it again.

Interesting Enough

Not quite what I expected, but interesting enough to hold my attention all the way through. I found myself wanting more information, and this lecture series only has enough time to scratch the surface in many cases. It did ensure I will look for more in depth titles dealing with real world espionage and its effect on the geopolitical landscape of the past couple centuries.

Extensive and well spoken

The content was quite extensive as an intro to something enigmatic. Very pleased to have learned some things of our world history through the lens of espionage. The presenter is very well spoken, with good energy and enthusiasm that kept the course engaging. Would recommend!

Must listen, history and espionage

While I was tempted by the title and sale price, I was a bit concerned that the book would be dry and a bit pedantic. IT WAS NOT. It was well researched, well organized and well narrated. I do recommend that you listen to one (or at most two) chapters at a time to absorb the subject focused. It was wonderful and one of a few books I will probably listen to more than once.