New Releases by Nigel West

In a surprising number of espionage cases sex has played a significant role-often only in the background-possibly as a reason why a particular individual has lived beyond his means and is in desperate need of cash. FBI agent Earl Pitts sold secrets to the Soviets to ease his financial burdens, which came from his habitually heavy use of male and female prostitutes. Yuri Nosenko collaborated with the CIA after having misappropriated KGB funds to entertain expensive women while on official duties in Geneva, and Aleksandr Ogorodnik of the Soviet foreign ministry was persuaded to become a spy by his pregnant Spanish lover, an agent recruited by the CIA. In the realm of human behavior, sex can be the catalyst for risky or reckless conduct. The Historical Dictionary of Sexspionage explores this behavior through a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the secret agencies, operations, and events. From Delilah''s seduction of Samson in 1161 BC to State Department official Donald Keyser''s conviction of passing secrets to Isabelle Cheng, a Taiwanese intelligence officer, in 2007, Nigel West recounts the history of sexspionage.

Twelve novels and nine short stories define one of the most extraordinary fictional characters of all time, creating the basis for the most successful movie series in cinematographic history, watched by more than half the world''s population. The single person probably more responsible than any other for glamorizing the murky world of espionage is Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, who himself lived a remarkable double life of spy and writer. Everyone has an opinion on why 007 became so successful, but one possible explanation is the ingenious formula of fact, fiction, and sheer fantasy. Certainly the author drew on friends and places he knew well to provide the backdrop for his drama, but what proportion of his output is authentic, and what comes directly from the author''s imagination? These questions and more are examined in the Historical Dictionary of Ian Fleming''s World of Intelligence: Fact and Fiction. This is done through a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on actual cases of espionage, real-life spies, MI5, SIS, CIA, KGB, and others. It also contains entries on Ian Fleming''s novels and short stories, family and friends, his employers and colleagues, and other notable characters.

In the years immediately following World War II, information was disclosed about what has been termed the shadow war of the existence of hitherto secret agencies. In Germany it was the Abwehr and the Sicherheitsdienst; in Britain it was MI5, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and Special Operations Executive (SOE); in the United States it was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the Special Intelligence Service (SIS) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); in Japan it was the Kempet''ai; and in Italy the Servicio di Informazione Militare (SIM). Sixty years after World War II secrets are still being revealed about the covert activities that took place. Many countries had secret agencies maintaining covert operations, but even ostensibly neutral countries also conducted secret operations. Changes in American, British, and even Soviet official attitudes to declassification in the 1980s allowed thousands of secret documents to be made available for public examination, and the result was extensive revisionism of the conventional histories of the conflict, which previously had excluded references to secret intelligence sources. The Historical Dictionary of World War II Intelligence tells the emerging history of the intelligence world during World War II. This is done through a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the secret agencies, operations, and events. The world of double agents, spies, and moles during WWII is explained in the most comprehensive reference currently available.

Nigel West has studied the recently revealed documents about Soviet espionage against the Western Allies during and after World War II and has for the first time painted the complete picture of how the Soviet Union stole the secrets of the atomic bomb. The investigations by the British, Canadian, and US Military counterintelligence services through the Venona intercepts are placed in proper context and made intelligible by a master espionage history writer. What is revealed is the extent of the penetration by the NKVD and KGB of the most secret technologies of the era and how the West protected itself. A new and revised edition.

This book details MI5''s interception and exploitation of secret Comintern wireless traffic, which revealed the first evidence of widescale Soviet espionage in Britain.

The defection of Igor Gouzenko in September 1945, more so than any other single event, alerted the West to the nature and scale of the Soviet espionage offensive being waged by the Kremlin. Apart from the dozen or so defendants convicted of spying, Gouzenko wrecked an organization that had taken years to develop, exposed the penetration of the Manhattan atomic weapons project, and demonstrated the very close relationship between the Canadian Communist Party and Moscow. Many credit this event as sparking the bitter but secretive struggle fought between the intelligence agencies of the East and West for nearly half a century. The Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence tells the story of both sides'' fierce efforts to penetrate and subvert the opponent while desperately trying to avoid a similar fate. Through a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the organizations, operations, events, and personalities that influenced counterintelligence during the Cold War, the world of double agents, spies, and moles is explained in the most comprehensive reference currently available.

WALLFLOWERS is the codename given to one of the Security Service’s most treasured possessions, the daily journal dictated from August 1939 to June 1945 by MI5’s Director of Counter-Espionage, Guy Liddell, to his secretary, Margo Huggins. The document was considered so highly classified that it was retained in the safe of successive Directors-General, and special permission was required to read it. Liddell was one of three brothers who all won the Military Cross during the First World War and subsequently joined MI5. He initially first served in the Metropolitan Police Special Branch at Scotland Yard, dealing primarily with cases of Soviet espionage, until he was transferred to MI5 in 1931. His social connections proved important because in 1940 he employed Anthony Blunt as his personal assistant and became a close friend of both Guy Burgess and Victor Rothschild, and was acquainted with Kim Philby. Despite these links, when Liddell retired from the Security Service in 1952 he was appointed security adviser to the Atomic Energy Commission, an extremely sensitive post following the conviction of the physicist Klaus Fuchs two years earlier. No other member of the Security Service is known to have maintained a diary and the twelve volumes of this journal represents a unique record of the events and personalities of the period, a veritable tour d’horizon of the entire subject. As Director, B Division, Liddell supervised all the major pre-war and wartime espionage investigations, maintained a watch on suspected pro-Nazis and laid the foundations of the famous ‘double cross system’ of enemy double agents. He was unquestionably one of the most reclusive and remarkable men of his generation, and a legend within his own organisation.

Once dubbed espionage, the practice of intelligence has never been more important nor more sophisticated than it is today. Its coming-of-age began during World War II, which saw the birth of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the United States and the XX Committee to supervise the activities of double agents in Great Britain, and during the Cold War, where its rapid technological advances forever changed intelligence-gathering methods. Today, with the growing concern for terrorism, intelligence is more vital than ever and is needed not only by major powers but virtually all countries. In this time of change, it is essential to consider the evolution of intelligence, and how well it is coping at present. That, among other things, is the contribution of the Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence. Author Nigel West''s second contribution to the series includes a list of acronyms, a chronology, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the agencies and agents, the operations and equipment, the tradecraft and jargon, and many of the countries involved. No military reference collection is complete without it.

A revealing, detailed and highly entertaining account of the heads of Britain''s most secret service, from its inception in 1909 to the present day.

Triplex has been considered too secret a source ever to be mentioned outside the most senior levels of security and intelligence services, and none of the official histories of British Intelligence in World War II contain even a single reference to it. More senstive than Ultra, Triplex was the codename for a joint covert operation to gain access to the diplomatic bags of neutral embassies in London and photograph their highly secretive contents. The MI5 officer selected to supervise this clandestine operation was Anthony Blunt, who also took copies for his Soviet contacts.

This text is the inside story of how the CIA combined with the Vatican under the Polish Pope John Paul II to launch a massive campaign to destabilise Warsaw - and how the KGB reacted by trying to kill the Pope in 1981. The rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland in the 1980s, which began the undermining of the Soviet Bloc and the defeat of international communism, was essentially funded by the CIA covertly, through the Vatican.

Based on documents newly released from KGB archives, this lively account of Soviet foreign intelligence activity in Great Britain during the Cold War provides much new information on the activities of the well-known British pro-Soviet spies as well as many lesser-known spymasters and recruiters. Illustrations.

The most secret of agents are those known as illegals, the committed professionals who adopt a carefully-crafted false identity and live in a host community as an unsuspected mole, often for years. Nigel West has been granted unprecedented access by the former spymasters of the KGB to delve into their history.

Om syv spioner, som på hver sin måde var med til at ændre verdenshistorien. Blandt andet historien om den dansk-tyske dobbeltspion Wulf Schmidt.

A first novel from a well-known military historian who specializes in security matters. It is set in the world of espionage and centres around a World War II German fighter which is discovered in the mud of the Solent with the body of a passenger on board.

Written by an acknowledged expert in the intelligence field, Molehunt is an intriguing story of how MI5 tried to pinpoint the moles within the inner sanctum of British counterintelligence. 8 pages of photos.

An espionage expert reveals the workings and assesses the effectiveness and economic efficiency of the world''s intelligence services, from the KGB to the CIA

Was the former Director-General of the Security Service, Sir Roger Hollis, a traitor? What was the events in the 1960s which led to the self-destructive searches for Soviet ''moles''? Why was it that in more than thirty years only one KGB ''illegal'' was ever found in Enlgand by MI5? Who was the defector whose memory of files in Moscow led to the identification of more than a dozen Russian spies in the West? Meticulous research backed by hundreds of hours of interviews with agents, double agents and case officers has resulted in answers to these questions. The account of Britain''s premier counter-intelligence organization is thoroughly documented with names, dates and places.

GIFT APLS 10-25-2003 $10.95.