Reviews, Forthcoming, New Releases, Overlooked
James Watkins | 2022 | TV mini series
As the Cold War rages, ex-smuggler turned reluctant spy Harry Palmer finds himself at the centre of a dangerous undercover mission, on which he must use his links to find a missing British nuclear scientist. Based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Len Deighton
Matthew Guariglia and Brian Hochman | W.W. Norton and Company | 13 January 2026
Fifty years ago, a government investigation led by US senator Frank Church uncovered some of the darkest state secrets of the twentieth century. The Church Committee confirmed the nation’s worst fears about the unchecked power of its intelligence agencies: at the FBI, surveillance campaigns against civil rights leaders and clandestine attempts to disrupt antiwar protests; at the CIA, assassination plots against foreign heads of state, experiments with toxic substances and illegal drugs, and covert partnerships with the Mafia. The Church Committee’s findings were so explosive that key members found themselves on the watch lists of the very government agencies they were investigating. Three witnesses who cooperated with the inquiry were murdered.
Amid the creep of digital surveillance and the upheavals of social protest, this accessible volume, containing the most harrowing revelations of the Church Committee investigation, sheds valuable light on some of today’s most urgent concerns.
Robert Hannigan | Harper Collins | 24 Apr 25
From the codebreakers and problem solvers, to the engineers, mathematicians and other problem-solvers – what the secret world can teach us about performance and creativity
How do you hire smart people who can work together to prevent terrorist attacks and decode encrypted technology?
How do you come up with creative, counterintuitive solutions to solve major global problems?
How do you provide the right environment for these people to thrive and work at their best when under immense pressure?
Written by Robert Hannigan, the former Director of GCHQ, this book explores the role of the counter-intelligence services in history and today’s world – from the codebreakers and problem solvers, to innovation and creativity, secrecy and transparency and the global tech community. It will trace the history of counter-intelligence – from the early days of Bletchley Park, to the ongoing work of GCHQ – while reflecting on some of the unique characteristics of the engineers, mathematicians and other problem-solvers that make up the world’s intelligence community.
An exhaustive and authoritative account of the history of counter-intelligence from Bletchley Park to modern day GCHQ, this brilliant and unique book will appeal to business readers, history readers and fans of smart thinking and big ideas around the world.
John Hughes-Wilson | Constable | 18 February 2016
From the ancient Greek and Roman origins of human intelligence to its use in the Catholic church to Francis Walsingham's Elizabethan secret service to the birth of the surveillance state in today's digital hi-tech age, Colonel John Hughes-Wilson, professional military-intelligence officer and author of the bestselling Military Intelligence Blunders and Cover-Ups, gives an extraordinarily broad and wide-reaching perspective on intelligence, providing an up-to-date analysis of the importance of intelligence historically and in the recent past. Drawing upon a variety of sources, ranging from first-hand accounts to his own personal experience, Hughes-Wilson covers everything from undercover agent handling to photographic reconnaissance to today's much misunderstood cyber welfare.
This book stands apart from the rest in that it tells the real inside story from a controversial insider's point of view, lifting the veil on what really happened behind the scenes in the intelligence world during some of the most well-known military events that have shaped our lives. On Intelligence is looking for hard answers - there are some tough lessons to be learned from both intelligence failures and successes - why is crucial intelligence so often ignored, misunderstood or spun by politicians and seasoned generals alike?
One of the leading military experts of our time, Colonel John Hughes-Wilson skilfully weaves together an accessible and readable narrative on intelligence, accompanied by his unrivalled professional insight.