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!

US Open for Sies

The conclusion after all the fascinating history, will leave the reader questioning America's future. Trump may be Russias greatest ally.

Author's Interpretation of Jan 6 2021

This book was decent overall and provided a good overview of the intelligence war. He clearly missed what the J6 protestors were all about but that is hardly surprising since the author lives in an Ivy League bubble and is clearly a leftist. It wasn't a coup and he clearly hates Trump and chose to bash him and label him a dictator while conveniently ignoring all the crap the Biden and Obama administrations did and are doing to undermine American society and turn us against one another. Trump is 1000% more patriotic than any of those two. You never heard Obama say he loves his country. Democrats hate America. They demonstrate this everyday. So with this politicized ending for the book it is not one I will be recommending my students to read. I stay off politics in the classroom unlike other Left leaning professors. No wonder why the Ivy League churns out so many so called "educated" elites who hate America with a guy like this teaching. He clearly doesn't understand what makes us real Americans tick and needs to pack up and go back to the in-bred has been empire he came from.

Fascinating

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

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.

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.

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

Fabulous travel through east west spying

having read many spy novels through the years, this was fabulous too. have some small understanding of what transpired since the Bolshevik revolution. and great summary of the information available. stumbling and bumbling through the spy world. The narrator does a nice job. I recommend it

Excellent book

Anyone who.values their sleep should avoid this book. “Spies” provides a very insightful accounting of spook-work and requisite tradecraft. (An old spook)