The Second Oldest Profession Phillip Knightley

Name: The Second Oldest Profession By Phillip Knightley
SKU: 9781844130917
Price: 10.00 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

The Second Oldest Profession by Phillip Knightley

Reviews:

$10,00

Condition - Very Good

Only 3 left

Very Good Good

Summary

Intelligence is very big business with a very rich history, told here by a master historian. The big question is, 'Did the actions of spies such as Sorge, Donovan or Angleton and their masters make any difference at all in the course of history?'

The Second Oldest Profession Summary

The Second Oldest Profession by Phillip Knightley

The spy is as old as history but spy services are quite new. Britain founded the first, Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, in dubious circumstances in 1909. Others followed until no country considered itself a nation unless it had a corps of spies. The biggest and most expensive is America's Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, formed as recently as 1947. The CIA's principle enemy was the Soviet Union's KGB, and the clash of these two giants has been the thrilling stuff of history, novels, films and plays. In assessing the real role of the spy, Phillip Knightley brilliantly takes all the real characters of the spies themselves - Mata Hari, Sidney Reilly, Richard Sorge, Kim Philby, George Blake, James Jesus Angleton, Ruth Kuczinsky, the Rosenbergs - and answers the crucial question. Did they make any difference to the course of history? Or was spying the biggest confidence trick of our time?

The Second Oldest Profession Reviews

A powerful book, a drawing together of twenty years of research and writing; a critical history of intelligence in the twentieth century Sunday Times A brilliant and original book that makes sense for the first time of the world of espionage -- Edward Jay Epstein As readable as any spy novel, the research thorough and extensive, the book gives an observer's view of British and American intelligence that will make it a standard work for a long time to come Independent

About Phillip Knightley

Phillip Knightley is the author of ten non-fiction books. He is best known for The Second Oldest Profession and The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist and Myth Maker. He has met nearly every spy chief on both sides in the spy Cold War and spent one week with the British traitor Kim Philby in Moscow in 1988 debriefing him just before he died. Knightley has also dined with several heads of the KGB, several chiefs of the British Secret Intelligence Service, the Inspector General of the CIA, and the director of its anti-Soviet operations. For twenty years he was a special correspondent of The Sunday Times and a member of the Insight Team. He has served as a representative in Europe for the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and twice been nominated Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. He spends most of him time writing books and articles for publications around the world. He lives in Britain, India and Australia.

Additional information

Sku

GOR001636936

ISBN 13

9781844130917

ISBN 10

1844130916

Title

The Second Oldest Profession by Phillip Knightley

Author

Phillip Knightley

Condition

Used - Very Good

Binding type

Paperback

Publisher

Vintage Publishing

Year published

20031106

Number of pages

528

Prizes

N/A

Cover note

Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.

Note

This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us