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Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History

By: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
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Publisher's Summary

Step into the real world of the spy with this detailed and unforgettable tour of the millennia-long history and enduring legacy of espionage and covert operations. While most of us associate this top-secret subject with popular fiction and film, its true story is more fascinating, surprising, and important than you could possibly imagine.

These 24 thrilling lectures survey how world powers have attempted to work in the shadows to gain secret information or subvert enemies behind the scenes. Filled with stories and insights that will change the way you think about world history's most defining events, this course lets you peer inside a subject whose truths most people are unaware of.

Professor Liulevicius introduces you to the inner workings of covert organizations, including the Oprichnina, a feared secret service established by tsar Ivan the Terrible in the 1500s in an effort to cleanse Russia of treasonous activities; the CIA, established in 1947 by President Truman to replace the Office of Secret Services to be in charge of all intelligence collection – and which had an embarrassing early history; and Mossad, Israel's version of the CIA, which won a series of key intelligence victories during the cold war and over terror attacks and hostage crises in the second half of the 20th century.

You'll also meet famous – and infamous – spies, including Sir Francis Walsingham, Mata Hari, and Kim Philby. In this stirring series of lectures, you'll study the psychological motives behind spies, the ethics of cyber warfare and corporate espionage, the question of whether we now live in a surveillance society, and more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History

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An Interesting and Enlightening Experience

Although quite long, these lectures were interesting and often entertaining as they uncovered the secret world of espionage... genuinely enjoyable if the subject interests you.

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Great over view of spying

This is not deep. But it ultimately poses deep questions. The espionage story across thousands of years is very well told and themes are well outlined: why spying is undertaken, who does it, what motivates the spies, the role of technology, the influence of espionage in literature and how all this has changed spying and several more threads.

As for the deeper questions, essentially that is about the role of surveillance and secrecy in democratic society. And we are given no answer beyond our collective vigilance.

I really enjoyed this course.

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