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.
THE STRATEGIC SITUATION IN 1798
Local Knowledge: Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley
THE GERMAN AIRBORNE DESCENT ON CRETE
Midway: The Complete Intelligence Victory?
AMERICAN PENETRATION OF JAPANESE CIPHERS
THE COURSE OF JAPANESE CONQUEST
Intelligence, One Factor Among Many: The Battle of the Atlantic
BLETCHLEY AND THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
ENLARGEMENT OF THE MERCHANT FLEET
Human Intelligence and Secret Weapons
THE ARGUMENT OVER THE V-WEAPONS
THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FLYING BOMB
EPILOGUE: Military Intelligence Since 1945
CONCLUSION: The Value of Military Intelligence
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