Book and Film Recommendations

Mr_Aman
26 January 2026 

Aarav Singh Rana, code name "Dhurandhar", is India's top intelligence operative-brilliant, fearless, and loyal. During a covert mission to stop an international arms deal, he is betrayed by someone inside the agency. The mission goes horribly wrong, leaving him presumed dead after an explosion in Istanbul. Back home, his fiancee Dr. Meera Kapoor, a forensic scientist, is devastated. Months later, classified documents leak, branding Aarav as a traitor who sold secrets to enemies. His name becomes synonymous with betrayal.

Sheikeh Hasina (editor) | Routledge | 02 Feb 26

Secret Documents of Intelligence Branch on Father of the Nation, Bangladesh: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is a 14-volume set of declassified documents edited by Sheikh Hasina, Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh. These are a compilation of the files maintained by the Intelligence Branch of Pakistan Government on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who emerged as the sole leader of the country and became Bangabandhu (Friend of Bangladesh). For his long-standing struggle and contribution in fostering notions of Bengali nationhood that led to the independence of Bangladesh, he has been honored as the Father of the Nation.

The volumes provide records for period 1948 to 1971 and chronologically elucidate the trajectory of the various movements and political struggles that led to the formation of an independent nation state called People's Republic of Bangladesh. These include the 1952 Bengali Language Movement that catalyzed the assertion of Bengali national identity in the region and became a forerunner to Bengali nationalist movements. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led the struggle for independence, first through massive populist and civil disobedience movements and later during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Important events cited in the present volumes include the 1954 United Front election victory, 1966 Six Point Movement, 1968 Agartala Conspiracy Case, 1969 mass uprising, 1970 election victory and 1971 Non-Cooperation Movement among others.

These are the first ever declassified documents released by the Government of Bangladesh and will serve as an invaluable historical resource in understanding the liberation of Bangladesh. 

Andrew Kirsch | Page Two | 01 Mar 2022

Andrew Kirsch didn’t grow up watching spy movies, or dreaming about being a real-life James Bond. He was hardly aware that Canada even had its own intelligence service―let alone knew what its officers did. But when a terrorist attack occurred near the office of his financial services job, all of a sudden fighting terrorism meant a lot more to him than the markets. Within 18 months he had landed a job with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)―where he spent the next decade of his life.

In I Was Never Here, Kirsch (now an in-demand security consultant) spills the secrets of what life as an intelligence officer is really like, and dispels a few myths along the way. With humour, honesty, and candour, Kirsch shares his on-the-ground experience (or as much of it as he’s allowed to) of becoming a member of CSIS: from his vetting and training, to his initial desk job as a policy analyst, to his rise up the ranks to leading covert special operations missions. If you’ve ever wondered whether spies can have real dating lives, how they handle family responsibilities, or how they come up with cover stories or aliases, you’re in luck.

From the time he tried to get the code names “Burgundy” and “Anchorman” assigned to human sources (with no luck), to the night a covert operation was almost thwarted by a flyer delivery man, Kirsch takes you behind the scenes with an authentic view of Canada’s spy agency, and the intricate intelligence-sharing apparatus that works day and night to keep us safe. I Was Never Here is also a testament to one man’s drive to serve his country, and the sacrifices, big and small, that he made along the way.

Gregory J. Wallance | Potomac Books | 16 Oct 25

Finalist for the 2018 National Jewish Book Award in Biography

Though she lived only to twenty-seven, Sarah Aaronsohn led a remarkable life. The Woman Who Fought an Empire tells the improbable but true odyssey of a bold young woman—the daughter of Romanian-born Jewish settlers in Palestine—who became the daring leader of a Middle East spy ring. 

Following the outbreak of World War I, Sarah learned that her brother Aaron had formed Nili, an anti-Turkish spy ring, to aid the British in their war against the Ottomans. Sarah, who had witnessed the atrocities of the Armenian genocide by the Turks, believed that only the defeat of the Ottoman Empire could save the Palestinian Jews from a similar fate. Sarah joined Nili, eventually rising to become the organization’s leader. Operating behind enemy lines, she and her spies furnished vital information to British intelligence in Cairo about the Turkish military forces until she was caught and tortured by the Turks in the fall of 1917. To protect her secrets, Sarah got hold of a gun and shot herself. The Woman Who Fought an Empire, set at the birth of the modern Middle East, rebukes the Hollywood stereotype of women spies as femme fatales and is both an espionage thriller and a Joan of Arc tale.