What to read to understand intelligence and espionage

SPIES HAVE played an outsize role in the war on Ukraine. American and British intelligence agencies found out, and then exposed, Russia’s war plans for Ukraine months ahead of time in what was the biggest intelligence coup since the Cuban missile crisis. Russia’s “special services” had a torrid time. First they bungled their part in the invasion of Ukraine. Then more than 400 of their officers were expelled from embassies across America and Europe. Finally, they watched as a string of precious “illegals”—spies who operate without diplomatic cover—were rolled up in the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. In December even Belgian spies hit the headlines when they exposed a Moroccan intelligence network in the European Union. We chose seven books that encapsulate the past, present and future of covert work. They span the range of espionage and intelligence, from traditional agent running, with snatched meetings in shadowy street corners, to psychological warfare waged over computer networks.