Spies

The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West

By: Calder Walton

Narrated by: Dugald Bruce-Lockhart

Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The riveting, secret story of the hundred-year intelligence war between Russia and the West with lessons for our new superpower conflict with China.

Spies is the history of the secret war that Russia and the West have been waging for a century. Espionage, sabotage, and subversion were the Kremlin’s means to equalize the imbalance of resources between the East and West before, during, and after the Cold War. There was nothing “unprecedented” about Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. It was simply business as usual, new means used for old ends.

The Cold War started long before 1945. But the West fought back after World War II, mounting its own shadow war, using disinformation, vast intelligence networks, and new technologies against the Soviet Union. Spies is an inspiring, engrossing story of the best and worst of mankind: bravery and honor, treachery and betrayal. The narrative shifts across continents and decades, from the freezing streets of St. Petersburg in 1917 to the bloody beaches of Normandy; from coups in faraway lands to present-day Moscow where troll farms, synthetic bots, and weaponized cyber-attacks being launched on the woefully unprepared West. It is about the rise and fall of eastern superpowers: Russia’s past and present and the global ascendance of China.

Mining hitherto secret archives in multiple languages, Calder Walton shows that the Cold War started earlier than commonly assumed, that it continued even after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, and that Britain and America’s clandestine struggle with the Soviet government provides key lessons for countering China today. This fresh analysis of history, combined with practical takeaways for our current great power struggles, make Spies a unique and essential addition to the history of the Cold War and the unrolling conflict between the United States and China that will dominate the 21st century.

©2023 Calder Walton (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

This is a definitive account of pre & post cold war

This book explains the how and why of the coup that unseated Gorbachev and other things that only now are coming to light. The author does not stint in his praise and condemnation of Eastern and Western spy agencies.

Dry but fascinating

The language is dry as dust but the history is absolutely riveting. Worth every minute!

Great little know history

Really interesting and memorable history of east west spying. A lot of fascinating details of episodes and names that I knew a little about - Cambridge 5, Richard Hanson, Berlin, USSR spying on WW2 allies, a tunnel under Berlin, the Cuban Missile crisis ETC.

A lot of audible reviews are upset about the author’s reporting on trump and Russia. But if the book is credible about other Russian spying, why isn’t it about Russia and Trump?

At the end, the book does drift away from its core subject and into some unsupported speculation - quantum computing, the fourth Industrial Revolution etc.

But the discussion of Chinese spy craft and comparisons to the USSR was interesting.

Fascinating

Amy of material overwhelming
Amazing we did as well as we did
Luckily opponents were often less competent

Historical perspective

Found the historical context eliminating.
The 50/50 chance of our democracy surviving scary to say the least.

a war by other means with consequences

Lots of detail and examples much confirmed by other sources. He does not use the term, but it is the "Great Game" of nations we have known throughout history that continues. Cold or hot it goes on and on. Think open society vs authoritarian describes the struggle better than "liberal democracy" vs authoritarian. He points out the not level playing field when Russia, China and others are police states make defending our open societies difficult.

History was spot on

Author goes of the rails at the end
In light of what has been revealed concerning recent history in the last 6 months with new information still be made available he should have avoided making rash conclusions about recent events that are still being unraveled

Detailed overview of cold war espionage

This book was a great overview of Cold War espionage. I docked a star for inserting his own political beliefs at times.

Incredible view of the intelligence battle between the U.S. and Russia

Well written and narrated. Must read for those with an interest in 20th century rise of Russian/Soviet and U.S./Britain intelligence

A detailed history, inexcusably marred by politics

The author is extremely knowledgeable and impeccably credentialed, and he obviously worked hard to detail the exciting events in espionage during the Cold War. I learned a lot and really enjoyed the historical side of this book, which is where, I feel, the author should have remained. Unfortunately, his politics, first a trickle in the narrative, grow into an asymmetrical torrent by the end. I can truly say I was at a loss to connect the brilliant work of documenting spycraft in the 20th century with his cliche ridden, over the top tirade against Donald Trump in the last chapter. The historical work became a dogmatic missive full of the author's opinions, rather than any thoughtful conclusions based on fact. And it was not just the last chapter that brought me right out of the content, as the author saw fit to inject his modern political points into many of his assessments of past events, which is terribly disappointing given his excellent handling of the actual facts.

No matter the reader's politics, I feel this work really drops the ball at the end, bruising what is otherwise a brilliant historical narrative.