Espionage Aficionados discussion

Please crow (in this thread, as I am doing) about any successful book hunt you just carried out. What have you recently scored? What have you ferreted out?

I just spotted an extremely rare & out-of-print tactical manual ...one I have been seeking for a long time..soon it will be in my paws.

Anyone care to take a guess as to the title?

Im thinking Supplying War, I picked it up from our Base Library, and I think I'm the first person to have checked it out..

Good guess but nope--I'm already in the middle of that work whereas the tactical manual I'm alluding to is one I am in the process of obtaining in about ten days.

I looked up Creveld, he has a good number of books out, so will give our base librarian a list and see how many he can acquire..

The big reveal! I won't keep you in suspense any longer!

I recently nabbed the Handbook Of Intelligence And Guerrilla Warfare by the notorious Alexander Orlov. This is the real mccoy, folks. Authentic manual issued to agents in the field prior to embarking on their missions of mayhem.

Rare and out-of-print, retails for $100. A long and painstaking pursuit results in a firm and final conquest for Feliks D. I paid a third of what it costs on Amazon. Used book SCORE. And how.

Big bragging rights for my home bookshelf. You guys can eat your hearts out...

Thats a darn fine find.. good job..

Thanks. Started out dry, but its really rather chilling the deeper one gets into it. I'm savoring it more and more, as it goes along. The differences Orlov describes between western vs eastern intelligence habits is striking.

What aspect is the most glaring?

Whats your take on the tv series, The Americans?

Don't know that series.

Orlov starts out by observing that Western Intelligence traditionally gathers its info from 'any and all' the info sources it can, many of them from sources which are publicly available. But Soviet agents always got their info from one source: the dedicated recruitment (whether willing or unwilling) of any westerner who had access to info. There was a much more ruthless and aggressive focus on 'turning' individuals into information providers. For example, any civil servant in any American embassy anywhere in the world would automatically have their background scanned, seeking out some tiny point of leverage. If they found some past indiscretion, then they knew they could compromise that staffer. No bones about it.

The Americans, is about some deep cover Russian spies during the 80's. Its one of the few Tv shows I watch, its pretty intense at times, good sound tracks, very good acting.