Reviews, Forthcoming, New Releases, Overlooked
Directed by Farren Blackburn and James Marsh | TV Series, Premieres 27 April 2026 on ITV
A British intelligence officer races against time to uncover a UK politician's potential ties with the Kremlin, risking her reputation and family, as a murder and election loom.
Andrey Spiridonov | Independent | 12 March 2026
Military intelligence and counterintelligence have always been fundamental elements of warfare and state security. Throughout history, the ability to obtain reliable information about an adversary, to understand the intentions and capabilities of opposing forces, and to protect one’s own military structures from hostile intelligence activity has played a decisive role in the outcome of conflicts.
Military Intelligence & Counterintelligence in History, Tactics and Strategy presents a comprehensive account of the development of military intelligence from its historical origins to its role in modern military systems. The book explores how intelligence practices emerged in ancient civilizations, how they evolved through different historical periods, and how modern intelligence institutions were formed within national military structures.
The first part of the book examines the historical foundations of military intelligence, tracing its development in different countries and military traditions. It considers the experience of various states and the institutional formation of intelligence organizations in the modern era.
The second part focuses on the practical organization of military intelligence. It addresses the structure of intelligence units within military formations, the sources and methods of intelligence collection, the processing and evaluation of information, and the role of intelligence in operational planning and decision-making. Particular attention is devoted to battlefield counterintelligence and reconnaissance operations conducted in complex operational environments.
Combining historical perspective with practical analysis, this book presents military intelligence as a system of knowledge, organization, and operational activity that remains essential to modern military strategy and national security.
David A. Foy | Casemate |15 September 2025
When World War II broke out, Dane Hans Tofte gave up his promising career in the maritime industry to come first to the aid of his own country, and then to the assistance of several other nations in a time of need
He went undercover with the British SOE, aiding Chinese guerrillas in the China Commando Group against the Japanese, then with OSS as a training officer then an operations officer, engaged in paramilitary operations supporting the Yugoslav partisans, investigating the credible threat of U-boats launching V-1 rockets against New York City, and training foreign agents to parachute into Germany late in the war. Post-war he joined CIA, where he engaged in paramilitary and psychological warfare operations during the Korean War, including launching an escape and evasion (E&E) operation to rescue downed Allied pilots, as well as creatively and effectively thwarting a Chinese resupply operation, thereby saving the US government $1 million. During the Cold War, he engaged in various disinformation campaigns, morale operations, and regime change, to stymie the Soviet Union and its allies.
When the end came, it began on an innocuous note—Tofte simply wanted to rent out the basement apartment in his home in the most fashionable quadrant of Washington D.C. in 1966. However, by its denouement, his accomplished career in the intelligence community would be at an abrupt end, a national agency already facing harsh scrutiny would be embroiled in controversy, and America would be reading all about it as the case progressed through the judicial system.
Tofte was an imperfect but accomplished role model; a little-known but significant figure in the history of 20th-century military and civilian intelligence whose factual and nuanced story should be told and appreciated. This first English-language biography highlights his boldly creative and extensive contributions to the developing intelligence community.
Michael Honegger | Blowup | 02 October 2023
Michael Honegger's father was a spy during the Cold War. Bilingual in German and English, he worked for the U.S. Air Force and sent agents to East Germany and elsewhere behind the Iron Curtain. The Honeggers lived in West Germany between 1959 and 1963, at the height of the Cold War. No member of the family had the slightest idea of the father's professional life and all questions about it received the same predictable answer: "Do you need to know?", followed by a smile and silence. It was only long after retiring that he finally gave some details about his career as a special counterintelligence agent.
This project is an exploration of the meager details that emerged from these brief conversations and Michael's curiosity about Cold War espionage and its impact on his family at the time. His father led two lives that rarely crossed. Members of his family were often the involuntary participants of indecipherable events that left them with many more questions than answers. Mysterious strangers showed up at their apartment late at night and left before dawn without saying a word to anyone other than his father. Strange encounters, curious radio transmissions and unexplained coincidences became the norm of his childhood.