Your Search Results

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        June 2015

        Interrogation, intelligence and security

        Controversial British Techniques

        by Samantha Newbery

        Interrogation, Intelligence and Security examines the origins and effects of a group of interrogation techniques known as the 'five techniques'. Through its in-depth analysis the book reveals how British forces came to use these controversial methods. Focusing on the British colony of Aden (1963-67), the height of 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland (1971), and the conflict in Iraq (2003), the book explores the use of hooding to restrict vision, white noise, stress positions, limited sleep and a limited diet. There are clear parallels between these three case studies and the use of controversial interrogation techniques today. Readers will be able to make informed judgements about whether, on the basis of the results of these cases, interrogation techniques that might be described as torture can be justified. This book will be of particular interest to security professionals, academics and members of the public interested in the torture debate, intelligence, the military, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign policy and law enforcement. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Espionage & secret services
        February 2015

        East German intelligence and Ireland, 1949–90

        Espionage, terrorism and diplomacy

        by Jérôme Wiel

        This book is an in-depth examination of the relations between Ireland and the former East Germany between the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It explores political, diplomatic, economic, media and cultural issues. The long and tortuous process of establishing diplomatic relations is unique in the annals of diplomatic history. Central in this study are the activities of the Stasi. They show how and where East German intelligence obtained information on Ireland and Northern Ireland and also what kind of information was gathered. A particularly interesting aspect of the book is the monitoring of the activities of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army and their campaigns against the British army in West Germany. The Stasi had infiltrated West German security services and knew about Irish suspects and their contacts with West German terrorist groups. East German Intelligence and Ireland, 1949-90 makes an original contribution to diplomatic, intelligence, terrorist and Cold War studies.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        June 2017

        Paranoid visions

        Spies, conspiracies and the secret state in British television drama

        by Joseph Oldham

        Paranoid visions explores the history of the spy and conspiracy genres on British television, from 1960s Cold War series through 1980s conspiracy dramas to contemporary 'war on terror' thrillers. It analyses classic dramas including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Edge of Darkness, A Very British Coup and Spooks. This book will be an invaluable resource for television scholars interested in a new perspective on the history of television drama and intelligence scholars seeking an analysis of the popular representation of espionage with a strong political focus, as well as fans of cult British television and general readers interested in British cultural history.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2015

        Interrogation, intelligence and security

        Controversial British Techniques

        by Samantha Newbery

        Interrogation, Intelligence and Security examines the origins and effects of a group of interrogation techniques known as the 'five techniques'. Through its in-depth analysis the book reveals how British forces came to use these controversial methods. Focusing on the British colony of Aden (1963-67), the height of 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland (1971), and the conflict in Iraq (2003), the book explores the use of hooding to restrict vision, white noise, stress positions, limited sleep and a limited diet. There are clear parallels between these three case studies and the use of controversial interrogation techniques today. Readers will be able to make informed judgements about whether, on the basis of the results of these cases, interrogation techniques that might be described as torture can be justified. This book will be of particular interest to security professionals, academics and members of the public interested in the torture debate, intelligence, the military, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign policy and law enforcement. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2014

        East German intelligence and Ireland, 1949–90

        Espionage, terrorism and diplomacy

        by Jerome de Wiel

        This book is an in-depth examination of the relations between Ireland and the former East Germany between the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It explores political, diplomatic, economic, media and cultural issues. The long and tortuous process of establishing diplomatic relations is unique in the annals of diplomatic history. Central in this study are the activities of the Stasi. They show how and where East German intelligence obtained information on Ireland and Northern Ireland and also what kind of information was gathered. A particularly interesting aspect of the book is the monitoring of the activities of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army and their campaigns against the British army in West Germany. The Stasi had infiltrated West German security services and knew about Irish suspects and their contacts with West German terrorist groups. East German Intelligence and Ireland, 1949-90 makes an original contribution to diplomatic, intelligence, terrorist and Cold War studies. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Espionage & secret services

        East German intelligence and Ireland, 1949–90

        Espionage, terrorism and diplomacy

        by Jérôme Wiel

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        February 2017

        East German intelligence and Ireland, 1949–90

        Espionage, terrorism and diplomacy

        by Jérôme de Wiel

        This book is an in-depth examination of the relations between Ireland and the former East Germany between the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It explores political, diplomatic, economic, media and cultural issues. The long and tortuous process of establishing diplomatic relations is unique in the annals of diplomatic history. Central in this study are the activities of the Stasi. They show how and where East German intelligence obtained information on Ireland and Northern Ireland and also what kind of information was gathered. A particularly interesting aspect of the book is the monitoring of the activities of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army and their campaigns against the British army in West Germany. The Stasi had infiltrated West German security services and knew about Irish suspects and their contacts with West German terrorist groups. East German Intelligence and Ireland, 1949-90 makes an original contribution to diplomatic, intelligence, terrorist and Cold War studies.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        May 2016

        A matter of intelligence

        MI5 and the surveillance of anti–Nazi refugees, 1933–50

        by Charmian Brinson, Richard Dove

        This is an unusual book, telling a story which has hitherto remained hidden from history: the surveillance by the British security service MI5 of anti-Nazi refugees who came to Britain fleeing political persecution in Germany and Austria. Based on the personal and organisational files that MI5 kept on political refugees during the 1930s and 1940s - which have only recently been released into the public domain - this study also fills a considerable gap in historical research. Telling a story of absorbing interest, which at times reads more like spy fiction, it is both a study of MI5 and of the political refugees themselves. The book will interest academics in the fields of history, politics, intelligence studies, Jewish studies, German studies and migration studies; but it is also accessible to the general reader interested in Britain before, during and after the Second World War.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2023

        Intelligence and espionage in the English Republic c. 1600–60

        by Alan Marshall

        This is a comprehensive history of the idea of the early-modern 'secret state' intelligence and spies in the British late sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It embraces domestic affairs and wider international contexts, as well as exploring cultural and philosophical questions in the history of intelligence and espionage. Marshall's investigation leads to a rich understanding of the idea of the early-modern 'secret state' in the era. The book also challenges misplaced preconceptions regarding early-modern intelligence and espionage and seeks to offer a balanced assessment of important developments across the early modern period.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2023

        Intelligence and espionage in the English Republic c. 1600–60

        by Alan Marshall

        This is a comprehensive history of the idea of the early-modern 'secret state' intelligence and spies in the British late sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It embraces domestic affairs and wider international contexts, as well as exploring cultural and philosophical questions in the history of intelligence and espionage. Marshall's investigation leads to a rich understanding of the idea of the early-modern 'secret state' in the era. The book also challenges misplaced preconceptions regarding early-modern intelligence and espionage and seeks to offer a balanced assessment of important developments across the early modern period.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2023

        Intelligence and espionage in the English Republic c. 1600–60

        by Alan Marshall

        This is a comprehensive history of the idea of the early-modern 'secret state' intelligence and spies in the British late sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. It embraces domestic affairs and wider international contexts, as well as exploring cultural and philosophical questions in the history of intelligence and espionage. Marshall's investigation leads to a rich understanding of the idea of the early-modern 'secret state' in the era. The book also challenges misplaced preconceptions regarding early-modern intelligence and espionage and seeks to offer a balanced assessment of important developments across the early modern period.

      • Trusted Partner
        The Arts
        December 2020

        Paranoid visions

        Spies, conspiracies and the secret state in British television drama

        by Joseph Oldham

        Paranoid visions explores the history of the spy and conspiracy genres on British television, from 1960s Cold War series through 1980s conspiracy dramas to contemporary 'war on terror' thrillers. It analyses classic dramas including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Edge of Darkness, A Very British Coup and Spooks. This book will be an invaluable resource for television scholars interested in a new perspective on the history of television drama and intelligence scholars seeking an analysis of the popular representation of espionage with a strong political focus, as well as fans of cult British television and general readers interested in British cultural history.

      • Espionage & secret services
        June 2021

        The Cold War Wilderness of Mirrors

        U.S. and Soviet Military Liaison Missions 1947–1990

        by Aden Magee

        The untold story of the Soviet Military Liaison Mission (SMLM) in West Germany and the U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) in East Germany.

      • Humanities & Social Sciences

        1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall - Coincidence or Planning? /1989 Mauerfall Berlin - Zufall oder Planung?

        by Michael Wolski

        Classification in History   The fall of the Wall in 1989 is a historical example of the end of the relationship between hegemon and vassal. It shows how the hegemon silently disposed of his now unloved child. It is a story of the betrayal of the most loyal political friends and a common ideology.   East Germany was occupied by the Soviet Army on May 8, 1945 at the end of World War II in Europe and then, according to the decisions of the Allies, the Soviet-occupied zone in Germany was dominated by the Soviet Union. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was founded in this zone in 1949, when the Soviet Union under Stalin was still convinced of the victory of communism in the world. At the same time, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in the Western zones.   After only ten years it became clear that the socialist (Soviet) system in the GDR - a Western European, highly industrialized country - was not working. People left their country across the open sector border in Berlin.   For this reason, the East German Communists had to build the Berlin Wall in 1961 on the orders of the Soviet Union, hermetically sealing East Germany (and Eastern Europe) from the West. According to Allied regulations, Berlin was a jointly administered city, with one zone of each of the 4 Allies. Until 1990, West Berlin was therefore a territory of the Western Allies USA, United Kingdom and France. Westberlin  became a capitalist island in the GDR.   Ultimately, this isolation led to the decline of the entire Eastern Bloc. Only 25 years later, when Gorbachev came to power (1985), the Soviet Union decided in secret to separate from its Eastern European vassal states and introduce a market economy. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which was planned and carried out top secretly, was the opening of the clamp that had held the socialist countries together.   One year later (on October 3, 1990), German unity was achieved and again one year later - in late 1991 - the Soviet Union disintegrated into 15 states and with it the socialist camp in Europe. This disintegration was due to a boomerang of history - the German-Soviet treaties together with secret protocols of 1939, which unexpectedly unfolded their destructive potential in 1989.   Thus, 50 years after the Hitler-Stalin Pact and the German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, both destroyed the Soviet Union as collateral damage of the opening of the Berlin Wall.   The Book   In this book, the course of events of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is portrayed differently than in current contemporary historiography.   I claim on the basis of evidence and facts that the Soviet Union was responsible for the fall of the Wall. In a covert action, high-ranking East German KGB agents in the army, Stasi and mass-media took over command on the evening of November 9, 1989. At the same time, a meeting of the Central Committee of the SED was "randomly" extended by almost 3 hours, isolating over 250 high-ranking party and state officials from the outside world. Thus the state power was unable to act in the decisive hours of the fall of the Wall.   I describe the fall of the Wall as an East German contemporary witness, working from 1986-1990 in the liaison office of a Dow Jones listed US corporation in East Berlin (GDR).    While I had noticed events in East Berlin since 1986 that could indicate that unofficial KGB employees were being sought by Stasi in the International Trade Center (IHZ), this assumption became certain in 1994. The report on the evaluation of Stasi documents in the Bundestag confirmed my assumptions.   In June 2020 the last GDR Minister of the Interior of the first freely elected government (9 April 1990 – 2 October 1990) gave this number for the first time since 1990: In 1989/90 there were about 50,000 people in the GDR working for KGB (and GRU). Thus my view that the Soviet Union planned and realized the fall of the Wall was confirmed after more than 30 years.   The official German narrative (which is currently being retold worldwide) is based on the fall of the Wall by civil rights activists. They convinced the border officers to open the wall. However, no details are given about the process "behind the scenes". It must be remembered that as late as October 1989, the Politburo was still discussing the use of tanks against demonstrators in Leipzig (who demanded free passage out of the GDR). So why the change of mind within 4 weeks?   More information about my alternative view of the fall of the Wall can be found here (in German, English, Russian, Chinese): https://www.1989mauerfall.berlin/expose-leseprobe.html The book reads like a thriller.

      • Romance
        December 2014

        Border of Fire - Border of Ice

        by Sture Stiernlof

        A dramatic, sensual and captivating love and escape story, set in the harsh reality of the Cold War in Europe and topical as never before now that a new cold war threatens to divide the European continent again.     Lena, a young violinist from the Soviet Union, meets Leo, a writer from the West, in East Berlin. And intense and erotic love affair begins, and Leo is gradually drawn into Lena's highly dangerous plan to defect to the West with her brother and two friends across the death strip separating East and West Germany.    The escape fails dramatically, and Leo and Lena seem to have lost each other forever. But later, in Leningrad, Lena develops a new, bold plan: To escape across the desolate wilderness border between Finland and Russia in midwinter.    However, first Lena must work at a kolkhoz on the Kola Peninsula north of the Arctic Circle. It is a godforsaken, cold and dirty place, and she meets hostility, hardship and brutality. The dramatic escape takes place on New Year's Eve. Militia checkpoints, border patrols, wolf packs, Soviet elite forces and brutally cold weather are a constant threat in the dark, empty ice-cold wilderness.    Border of Fire - Border of Ice is the story of a brave, warmhearted woman and her unflinching resolution to overcome all obstacles and find freedom and love. It's an exciting, captivating, feel-good story.

      • Fiction

        From the Fence until Lunchtime

        by Jay Ramella

        From the Fence until Lunchtime can be read as a stand-alone story but it is also the sequel to DIPSORA (ISBN 9781871506747). All the central family characters are reintroduced as Kostas returns from St Petersburg to live again at Lakelands with Valeriya, the Russian agent and love of his life who is also one of the narrators of this story.   A luxurious holiday cruise embroils the Nashes in a violent death leading to the Italian Mafia’s involvement in the subsequent cover-up of the crime and concomitant exposure of British political sleaze.   The other narrator, Maxine, is pursuing a new career in the City with the Nash family business where she begins a passionate affair with her boss, who is also her first cousin. Constricted by the need for secrecy and almost completely unsupported, Maxine endures sacrifice and heartbreak as the yoke of dynastic duty is laid on rich, handsome George who continues to have it all, up to and beyond the bittersweet ending.

      • Fiction

        Dipsora

        by Jay Ramella

        Although told as a work of fiction, this book is factually correct. Spanning 40 years from the threat of the Cold War in Lincolnshire to present day terrorism and extremism, the story is told with pathos and humour through flashbacks, a private diary, social media platform DIPSORA and a blog. A slow burning love affair ignites amidst political upheaval and faltering convictions that lead to error and a race against time and discovery. The seemingly run-of-the-mill Nash family is rocked by a series of revelations as it unites to protect one of its own without regard for an innocent woman’s loss of liberty. At the end there remains one unanswered mystery for reader and author alike – who WAS Keith?

      • Adventure

        The Assassin The Grey Man and The Surgeon

        by D C Stansfield

        It was all going so well for Peter Lee’s drug empire.  He had a hold on the producers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  His receiver network was increasing and the distribution was now being handled by four of the biggest gangs in London.  With business so good, he was starting to expand.  He was becoming very, very rich.The only small annoyance had come from a little old lady who owned of all things a corner shop.  She had refused to accept any of his special parcels and wanted to go to the police, so she’d been given two bullets, the ‘double tap’, both to shut her up and to send a message to everyone else in the network.Unknown to Lee she was married to a specialist, a man who, in a former life killed men for a living.  He had two friends, one a gatherer of information, the master in his field, one a breaker of men, who was so vicious that it was rumoured that each time he hit a man he cut him.  Each of these three men had spent thirty years and more playing the ‘great game’.  Inside the security company called ‘The Firm’ they were legends known only as The Assassin, The Grey Man and The Surgeon.Now living at the edge of the secret world and about to disappear into history, this atrocity had brought them back centre stage but the question is, do they still have what it takes to go up against today’s hard men?

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