Military history

Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda

Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda

In fiction, the spy is a glamorous figure whose secrets make or break peace, but, historically, has intelligence really been a vital step to military victories? In this breakthrough study, the preeminent war historian John Keegan goes to the heart of a series of important conflicts to develop a powerful argument about military intelligence.

In his characteristically wry and perceptive prose, Keegan offers us nothing short of a new history of war through the prism of intelligence. He brings to life the split-second decisions that went into waging war before the benefit of aerial surveillance and electronic communications. The English admiral Horatio Nelson was hot on the heels of Napoleon’s fleet in the Mediterranean and never knew it, while Stonewall Jackson was able to compensate for the Confederacy’s disadvantage in firearms and manpower with detailed maps of the Appalachians. In the past century, espionage and decryption have changed the face of battle: the Japanese surprise attack at the Battle of the Midway was thwarted by an early warning. Timely information, however, is only the beginning of the surprising and disturbing aspects of decisions that are made in war, where brute force is often more critical.

Intelligence in War is a thought-provoking work that ranks among John Keegan’s finest achievements.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE - Knowledge of the Enemy

STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE

CHAPTER TWO - Chasing Napoleon

Chasing Napoleon

THE STRATEGIC SITUATION IN 1798

NELSON LOSES THE FRENCH FLEET

WHAT LONDON KNEW

NELSON RECOVERS THE SCENT

BACK AND FORTH

CHAPTER THREE - Local Knowledge: Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley

Local Knowledge: Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley

CHAPTER FOUR - Wireless Intelligence

Wireless Intelligence

THE BATTLE OF CORONEL

THE SEARCH FOR THE EMDEN

THE BATTLE OF THE FALKLANDS

CHAPTER FIVE - Crete: Foreknowledge No Help

Crete: Foreknowledge No Help

THE ENIGMA MACHINE

BREAKING ENIGMA

BREAKING ENIGMA AGAIN

THE GERMAN AIRBORNE DESCENT ON CRETE

THE BATTLE OF CRETE

CHAPTER SIX - Midway: The Complete Intelligence Victory?

Midway: The Complete Intelligence Victory?

AMERICAN PENETRATION OF JAPANESE CIPHERS

THE COURSE OF JAPANESE CONQUEST

MAGIC AND MIDWAY

THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY

CHAPTER SEVEN - Intelligence, One Factor Among Many: The Battle of the Atlantic

Intelligence, One Factor Among Many: The Battle of the Atlantic

ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE

BLETCHLEY AND THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC

ENLARGEMENT OF THE MERCHANT FLEET

CONVOY COMBAT

AIR ATTACK

THE INTELLIGENCE BALANCE

CHAPTER EIGHT - Human Intelligence and Secret Weapons

Human Intelligence and Secret Weapons

GERMAN SECRET WEAPONS

THE REVENGE WEAPONS

THE ARGUMENT OVER THE V-WEAPONS

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FLYING BOMB

THE V-2 SUCCEEDS THE V-1

EPILOGUE: Military Intelligence Since 1945

CONCLUSION: The Value of Military Intelligence

REFERENCES

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

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