CIPHER BRIEF SPOTLIGHT — Many Cipher Transient readers love giving – and getting – books as presents in the course of the vacation season. And we love suggesting titles from the world of nationwide safety that we predict they might particularly take pleasure in. We’ve reviewed greater than 80 books in 2024 and featured fairly a number of others on our Cowl Tales podcast – so the winnowing all the way down to a “Better of” record has been tough.
In the long run, we settled on these books which earned our coveted “4 Trench Coat” ranking in the course of the previous six months or so – since our final “Seashore Reads” advice e-newsletter in early July. Even then, we nonetheless had a protracted record. So we broke them down into a number of broad classes in case there’s a explicit style of curiosity to you – or somebody in your vacation reward record.
Memoirs and Reflections
There are three books we would roughly put within the class of memoirs, biographies, or reminiscences of great historic occasions. The primary we are going to cite is Midnight in Moscow the memoir of John Sullivan who served as U.S. Ambassador to Russia throughout each the Trump and Biden administrations. Havard scholar Calder Walton reviewed the ebook for us and praised it as a piece that needs to be “learn by anybody who desires to know the present quagmire of Russian relations with the West and Putin’s struggle in Ukraine.”
If biographies of vital persons are your factor, we’d recommend America’s Chilly Warrior: Paul Nitze and Nationwide Safety from Roosevelt to Reagan” by James Graham Wilson. It’s the story of a outstanding public servant who served at excessive ranges in eight presidential administrations. Cipher Transient skilled and senior CIA and NRO veteran John Lauder tells us in his evaluation that regardless of the weighty material, “America’s Chilly Warrior” is “a extremely readable ebook that one can peruse on the seashore or on an airplane.”
Subsequent, we’ll point out The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Disaster and The Daring Particular-Forces Operation That Shocked the World” by Ben Macintyre. That is the story of six younger Iranian Arabs who seized the Iranian Embassy in London and held it and its occupants hostage till the British SAS wrested management of the power in a spectacular operation. In his evaluation, Cipher Transient skilled Nick Fishwick, a retired British Overseas Service officer, known as Macintyre “certainly one of Britain’s biggest writers on safety and intelligence historical past…”and means that this ebook is finest “learn at a single nerve-grating sitting.”
Warfare, Cyberwar, Overseas Relations and Peace
Warfare (notably the continuing one in Ukraine) continued to keep up its grasp on the world’s consideration – and in addition that of authors whose work was featured in The Cipher Transient. One in every of our favorites on this class was “In Their Personal Phrases: How Russian Propagandists Reveal Putin’s Attentions” by the outstanding Russian media watcher Julia Davis. Davis’ ebook is a set of her excerpts and evaluation of commentary made on Russian state TV exposing the heartless and sometimes genocidal ambitions of the Kremlin’s favourite speaking heads. Take a look at each our evaluation and Julia Davis’s interview on the Cowl Tales podcast (on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
For an examination of the technique, ways and improvements of the continuing struggle, try The Warfare for Ukraine, by Mick Ryan, a retired main basic within the Australian Military. Our reviewer, Jean-Thomas Nicole, a coverage advisor with Public Security Canada, says the ebook is a snapshot in time – provided that the struggle continues to evolve – however a helpful contribution for the U.S. and its allies as they attempt to reduce the prospects for such conflicts sooner or later.
For a really private view of the impression of Russia’s struggle of aggression, try I Will Present You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv by Kyiv Impartial reporter Illia Ponomarenko. The ebook affords a extremely private account of the times and weeks main as much as Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine and its aftermath. In his evaluation, Cipher Transient skilled Ed Bogan, a retired senior CIA operations officer, writes, “Ponomarenko’s meticulous and painful description of the interval stirred up gut-wrenching feelings from the time and can rapidly take any reader again to these harrowing days.” To additional paint the image of the battle of the Ukrainian individuals, you may flip to “Portraits of Ukraine: A Nation at Warfare” by Gregory Slayton and Sergei Ivashenko. It is a coffee-table model ebook full of 310 usually dramatic photos. Ambassador Roman Popadiuk, the primary U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, reviewed the ebook for us and praised it for its evocative photos and stirring prose, bringing “to life the human dimension of the struggling and braveness of the Ukrainian individuals throughout this time of struggle.” Particularly noteworthy: all income from the sale of the ebook go to Ukrainian charities.
Past the wars of at this time – there are after all the wars of tomorrow to fret about. We leaned closely on Cipher Transient skilled Glenn Gerstell, who’s a principal with the Cyber Initiatives Group and former NSA Common Counsel, to evaluation a number of forward-looking books. Glenn gave 4 trench coats to Algorithms of Armageddon, by George Galdorisi and Sam Tangredi. The authors’ aim was “to supply an in depth and neutral image of the present state and potential evolution of army functions of AI,” and our skilled reviewer discovered it “surprisingly readable.” Gerstell additionally checked out Rethinking Cyber Warfare by David Edelman for us. That ebook examines “which, if any, forces within the worldwide system may restrain state use of cyberattacks, regardless of the strategic benefit they confer?” Glenn discovered the ebook “elegantly written however dense textual content” (nicely, you didn’t anticipate all cyber-warfare stuff to be simple, did you?). And finishing Gerstell’s trifecta of techy tomes (with 4 trench coat scores) he additionally reviewed Raj Shah and Christopher Kirchoff’s Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Remodeling the Way forward for Warfare. This one is an inside have a look at the Pentagon’s Protection Innovation Unit (referred to as Unit X) which tried (and generally succeeded) to deliver Silicon Valley cutting-edge know-how into the Division of Protection.
Assist Your self
Then there’s a standard class of books that roughly fall into the “self-help” style. For instance: Promote Like a Spy: The Artwork of Persuasion from the World of Espionage by Jeremy Hurewitz. The writer is a enterprise guide, entrepreneur and enterprise intelligence practitioner who attracts classes from legendary army and CIA officers (and plenty of Cipher Transient specialists) to supply steering on methods to use strategies usually employed by intelligence officers in connecting with others on the earth of enterprise. Dr. Ken Dekleva, a former Regional Medical Officer and psychiatrist for the Division of State (and an writer himself) calls this a “should learn” each for what’s says about such strategies as “empathy, lively listening, connection, elicitation, due diligence, recruitment, investigation, safety safety, curiosity, negotiation, motivation, belief, and cultural consciousness” – but additionally due to the real-world examples the writer consists of.
In case you are searching for a ebook on management, we’d advocate Would possibly of the Chain: Forging Leaders of Iron Integrity” by Rear Admiral Mike Studeman, USN (Ret.). Studeman is a Cipher Transient skilled and acknowledged authority on China. His ebook tells readers methods to strengthen their very own management qualities, methods to form a group, and methods to use that group to have probably the most impression. You possibly can learn our evaluation of the ebook right here – or higher but – take heed to our interview with Studeman on our Cowl Tales podcast (on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
One other four-trench-coat ebook on management got here from retired Navy SEAL Admiral Bob Harward – The Gouge! How you can Be Smarter Than the State of affairs You Are In.” To make sure no service favoritism, we turned to retired Military officer and former Deputy Director of the DIA, Doug Smart, to evaluation it for us. Smart says that Harward explains that “the gouge” is a Navy time period for “important info,” and he praised the ebook for doing simply that in an brisk model which “transcends organizations and cultures and has common applicability.”
Tremendous Fiction
Seems you can make these items up. Our record incorporates 4 very totally different novels that share one attribute – having earned four-trench-coat critiques.
Let’s begin with the latest, “Metropolis of Misplaced Souls: A Jack Ford Shanghai Thriller” by Cipher Transient skilled and veteran CIA officer Marty Petersen. The novel is ready practically a century in the past in Shanghai, the place an expat American personal investigator tries to assist a younger British lady discover her lacking brother. Ken Dekleva reviewed this one for us, calling it a “pleasant learn” which transports you again in time “to the scenes, delights, smells, gaudiness, character, cruelty and sensibility of Shanghai within the early Thirties.” Petersen joined us on a latest Cowl Tales podcast (right here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify) and defined how the novel grew out of his pastime of gathering ephemera from Shanghai – and the way the novel will help readers perceive the mindset of recent day China.
Along with being an Asia skilled, Petersen can be an aficionado of World Warfare II historical past – which made him the proper option to evaluation “The Stressed Wave: A Novel of america Navy” by one other Cipher Transient skilled, retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis. In his evaluation, Petersen identified that “The Stressed Wave,” in describing the exploits of a younger naval officer in the course of the first years of the Second World Warfare, is “peppered all through” with actual figures – so the reader enjoys each the fictional adventures of the novel’s hero but additionally learns about all kinds of individuals from that period and tales of their real-world adventures. Stavridis joined Cipher Transient CEO Suzanne Kelly for a stay on-line ebook membership dialogue of “The Stressed Wave,” and that session was preserved as a Cowl Tales podcast for listeners to take pleasure in (accessible on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
For a novel have a look at the world of intelligence – look no additional than “The Seventh Ground” by CIA veteran David McCloskey. We turned to a different Company veteran, and Cipher Transient skilled, Joe Augustyn to evaluation this one for us. Joe, who spent a number of time on the 7th ground (the place CIA management work), says that the energy of the ebook derives from how McCloskey brings the distinctive tradition of the CIA to life, and says that “McCloskey has written a extremely entertaining and engrossing ebook that can certainly fulfill the palate of these searching for a vicarious fictitious escape into the thrilling and unpredictable world of espionage.”
One factor you’ll be able to nearly at all times depend on is a gripping novel from Daniel Silva, that includes his hero Gabrial Allon. That holds true together with his newest installment: A Demise in Cornwall. CIA veterans Jay and Anne Gruner reviewed it for us and awarded it max trench coats. They advise that “in contrast to a lot of (Silva’s) earlier books, A Demise in Cornwall shouldn’t be about espionage operations or combating terrorists, however quite a non-public battle in opposition to greed and corruption on the highest monetary and political ranges in numerous Western international locations, most notably within the U.Okay. The Gruners say “Silva has as soon as once more written an entrancing novel of worldwide suspense and surprising detours that’s each academic and satisfying. Superbly but merely written, the ebook’s characters are memorable and their dialogue compelling.”
However Wait, There’s Extra
Our arbitrary cutoff on the four-trench-coat degree leaves out a number of books we all know would delight many readers. Bear in mind the skilled reviewers of books for The Cipher Transient are on their very own in assigning trench coat scores – and a few of these people are robust graders. Among the many not-quite-four-trench-coat books that we advise you try are: The Unintentional Joe, a toque-and-dagger spy novel a few TV chef who finds himself in the midst of a CIA covert operation. Take a look at the evaluation by the exceedingly well-qualified individual for the job — CIA veteran, TV producer and newbie chef Rodney Faraon. And likewise try our interview with writer Tom Straw on a Cowl Tales podcast (on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
We additionally extremely advocate Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum, reviewed for us by former Director of Nationwide Intelligence, Lt Gen. James Clapper, who we’re proud to say is one other Cipher Transient skilled. And llong considerably comparable traces, there’s To Run the World by Sergey Radchenko, reviewed by Cipher Transient Managing Editor Tom Nagorski. Tom says the ebook is a sweeping have a look at the Chilly Warfare, stocked with classes for the present second.
One other memorable ebook was Prisoner of Lies: Jack Down’s Chilly Warfare, by Barry Werth. Downey was a CIA officer held captive for twenty-one years in China. Former State Division officer Jim Bullock says in his evaluation that maybe probably the most attention-grabbing a part of the ebook is the story of how Downey rebuilt his life after his launch. Additionally value your time is our Cowl Tales podcast interview with the writer Barry Werth.
One final suggestion: A Suspicion of Spies: Dangers, Secret and Shadows – the Lifetime of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale.” Dunderdale is probably going largely unknown to American readers – however Cipher Transient skilled Tim Willasey-Wilsey says he’s nicely value studying about. The previous MI-6 official was certainly one of “a few dozen buddies of Ian Fleming considered fashions for James Bond.”
If we haven’t given you sufficient to chew on but – try all of our critiques right here and our Cowl Tales podcasts too.
The yr forward
We’re trying ahead to reviewing some engaging new books in 2025: “The Chinese language Phantom: The Hunt for the World’s Most Harmful Arms Supplier”; “The Eurasian Century: Scorching Wars, Chilly Wars, and the Making of the Trendy World”; the cheerful sounding “Demise is Our Enterprise: Russian Mercenaries and the New Period of Non-public Warfare”; and “Task in Saigon: A Chilly Warfare Thriller” by CIA veteran Invoice Rapp.
One of many issues that makes Cipher Transient critiques of books so helpful is that our reviewers are specialists in their very own proper. If you happen to assume you could have the chops to be a Cipher Transient reviewer, try our pointers right here – and if you happen to nonetheless assume you’d be an excellent match – ship a observe to us at [email protected] to toss your hat within the ring.
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