On Intelligence: The History of Espionage and the Secret World - Softcover

This book is a professional military-intelligence officer's and a controversial insider's view of some of the greatest intelligence blunders of recent history. It includes the serious developments in government misuse of intelligence in the recent war with Iraq. Colonel John Hughes-Wilson analyses not just the events that conspire to cause disaster, but why crucial intelligence is so often ignored, misunderstood or spun by politicians and seasoned generals alike.

This book analyses: how Hitler's intelligence staff misled him in a bid to outfox their Nazi Party rivals; the bureaucratic bungling behind Pearl Harbor; how in-fighting within American intelligence ensured they were taken off guard by the Viet Cong's 1968 Tet Offensive; how over confidence, political interference and deception facilitated Egypt and Syria's 1973 surprise attack on Israel; why a handful of marines and a London taxicab were all Britain had to defend the Falklands; the mistaken intelligence that allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power until the second Iraq War of 2003; the truth behind the US failure to run a terrorist warning system before the 9/11 WTC bombing; and how governments are increasingly pressurising intelligence agencies to 'spin' the party-political line.

Colonel John Hughes-Wilson, the past President of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides, is one of Britain’s leading military historians, and a well-reviewed author and commentator and on a wide range of intelligence and military historical subjects. He lectures for a number of international, governmental and academic organisations.

His books include the best-selling Military Intelligence Blunders, Blindfold and Alone and A Brief History of the Cold War. His The Puppet Masters, a history of intelligence, was short listed for the Westminster Gold Medal. His books have been translated into 6 languages, including Japanese and Turkish. He has produced over 150 articles and broadcasts worldwide on defence and related subjects, and in 2012 he was selected to be the author of the Imperial War Museum’s official History of the First World War.