Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley
Carradice’s
a hundred years of spying is a bit of misnomer.
He does cover more than a hundred years, at least if one includes a
brief overview of spying starting in ancient times. The bulk of the book is on the World Wars and
the Cold War.
While
the book does provide a good general
overview to the history of spying, albeit mostly focused on the Western World. It’s true that the book is general, but there
are some in depth looks at famous spies – such as the Cambridge Five. Some theories are discussed. The discussion of WWI and the Cold War are good. The section about the Cambridge Five is also
well done. The discussion about modern
spy work while some what less detailed for obvious reasons, is worth reading.
Quite frankly,
I am fed up with Mata Hari getting so much press while more successful female agents
are left out. This book does continue
with that tradition. It is also
interesting that while La Dame Blanche is discussed emphasis is placed on the
role of the men in the organization. Furthermore,
the role of women in SOE is given less attention than that of the men. For instance, he describes the SOE almost as solely men until the concluding paragraphs. Pearl Witherington was a member of SOE and
one of those guerrilla fighters. There could
have been, and should have been, more acknowledgment of the role of women
here. While Marie-Madeline Fourcade is
mentioned, and compared to Hari because of course her beauty is the important
thing. She gets a paragraph divided evenly
between general statements about her successes in spying and how good looking
she was.
Yet, even
with the predominant male focus and gaze, it is a good introduction and overview.
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