Our Finest Nationwide Safety Reads for 2024
CIPHER BRIEF SPOTLIGHT — Many Cipher Transient readers love giving – and getting – books as presents in the course of the vacation season. And we love suggesting titles from the world of nationwide safety that we expect they’d particularly take pleasure in. We’ve reviewed greater than 80 books in 2024 and featured fairly a number of others on our Cowl Tales podcast – so the winnowing all the way down to a “Better of” record has been tough.
Ultimately, we settled on these books which earned our coveted “4 Trench Coat” ranking in the course of the previous six months or so – since our final “Seashore Reads” suggestion e-newsletter in early July. Even then, we nonetheless had an extended record. So we broke them down into a number of broad classes in case there’s a specific style of curiosity to you – or somebody in your vacation reward record.
Memoirs and Reflections
There are three books we’d roughly put within the class of memoirs, biographies, or reminiscences of great historic occasions. The primary we’ll cite is Midnight in Moscow the memoir of John Sullivan who served as U.S. Ambassador to Russia throughout each the Trump and Biden administrations. Havard scholar Calder Walton reviewed the guide for us and praised it as a piece that needs to be “learn by anybody who needs to grasp the present quagmire of Russian relations with the West and Putin’s warfare in Ukraine.”
If biographies of necessary persons are your factor, we’d recommend America’s Chilly Warrior: Paul Nitze and Nationwide Safety from Roosevelt to Reagan” by James Graham Wilson. It’s the story of a outstanding public servant who served at excessive ranges in eight presidential administrations. Cipher Transient skilled and senior CIA and NRO veteran John Lauder tells us in his overview that regardless of the weighty material, “America’s Chilly Warrior” is “a extremely readable guide that one can peruse on the seaside or on an airplane.”
Subsequent, we’ll point out The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Disaster and The Daring Particular-Forces Operation That Shocked the World” by Ben Macintyre. That is the story of six younger Iranian Arabs who seized the Iranian Embassy in London and held it and its occupants hostage till the British SAS wrested management of the ability in a spectacular operation. In his overview, Cipher Transient skilled Nick Fishwick, a retired British International Service officer, referred to as Macintyre “one among Britain’s best writers on safety and intelligence historical past…”and means that this guide is finest “learn at a single nerve-grating sitting.”
Warfare, Cyberwar, International Relations and Peace
Warfare (notably the continued one in Ukraine) continued to take care of its grasp on the world’s consideration – and in addition that of authors whose work was featured in The Cipher Transient. One in every of our favorites on this class was “In Their Personal Phrases: How Russian Propagandists Reveal Putin’s Attentions” by the distinguished Russian media watcher Julia Davis. Davis’ guide is a group of her excerpts and evaluation of commentary made on Russian state TV exposing the heartless and sometimes genocidal ambitions of the Kremlin’s favourite speaking heads. Take a look at each our overview and Julia Davis’s interview on the Cowl Tales podcast (on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
For an examination of the technique, ways and improvements of the continued warfare, try The Warfare for Ukraine, by Mick Ryan, a retired main basic within the Australian Military. Our reviewer, Jean-Thomas Nicole, a coverage advisor with Public Security Canada, says the guide is a snapshot in time – provided that the warfare continues to evolve – however a helpful contribution for the U.S. and its allies as they attempt to reduce the prospects for such conflicts sooner or later.
For a really private view of the affect of Russia’s warfare of aggression, try I Will Present You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv by Kyiv Impartial reporter Illia Ponomarenko. The guide affords a extremely private account of the times and weeks main as much as Russia’s February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine and its aftermath. In his overview, Cipher Transient skilled Ed Bogan, a retired senior CIA operations officer, writes, “Ponomarenko’s meticulous and painful description of the interval stirred up gut-wrenching feelings from the time and can shortly take any reader again to these harrowing days.” To additional paint the image of the wrestle of the Ukrainian individuals, you would possibly flip to “Portraits of Ukraine: A Nation at Warfare” by Gregory Slayton and Sergei Ivashenko. This can be a coffee-table fashion guide filled with 310 typically dramatic pictures. Ambassador Roman Popadiuk, the primary U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, reviewed the guide for us and praised it for its evocative pictures and stirring prose, bringing “to life the human dimension of the struggling and braveness of the Ukrainian individuals throughout this time of warfare.” Particularly noteworthy: all earnings from the sale of the guide go to Ukrainian charities.
Past the wars of as we speak – there are after all the wars of tomorrow to fret about. We leaned closely on Cipher Transient skilled Glenn Gerstell, who’s a principal with the Cyber Initiatives Group and former NSA Common Counsel, to overview a number of forward-looking books. Glenn gave 4 trench coats to Algorithms of Armageddon, by George Galdorisi and Sam Tangredi. The authors’ purpose was “to offer an in depth and neutral image of the present state and potential evolution of navy functions of AI,” and our skilled reviewer discovered it “surprisingly readable.” Gerstell additionally checked out Rethinking Cyber Warfare by David Edelman for us. That guide examines “which, if any, forces within the worldwide system would possibly restrain state use of cyberattacks, regardless of the strategic benefit they confer?” Glenn discovered the guide “elegantly written however dense textual content” (nicely, you didn’t anticipate all cyber-warfare stuff to be simple, did you?). And finishing Gerstell’s trifecta of techy tomes (with 4 trench coat scores) he additionally reviewed Raj Shah and Christopher Kirchoff’s Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Remodeling the Way forward for Warfare. This one is an inside take a look at the Pentagon’s Protection Innovation Unit (generally known as Unit X) which tried (and generally succeeded) to convey Silicon Valley cutting-edge expertise into the Division of Protection.
Assist Your self
Then there’s a well-liked class of books that roughly fall into the “self-help” style. For instance: Promote Like a Spy: The Artwork of Persuasion from the World of Espionage by Jeremy Hurewitz. The writer is a enterprise guide, entrepreneur and enterprise intelligence practitioner who attracts classes from legendary navy and CIA officers (and lots of Cipher Transient specialists) to supply steerage on how you can use strategies typically employed by intelligence officers in connecting with others on the earth of enterprise. Dr. Ken Dekleva, a former Regional Medical Officer and psychiatrist for the Division of State (and an writer himself) calls this a “should learn” each for what’s says about such strategies as “empathy, energetic listening, connection, elicitation, due diligence, recruitment, investigation, safety safety, curiosity, negotiation, motivation, belief, and cultural consciousness” – but additionally due to the real-world examples the writer contains.
In case you are searching for a guide on management, we’d advocate Would possibly of the Chain: Forging Leaders of Iron Integrity” by Rear Admiral Mike Studeman, USN (Ret.). Studeman is a Cipher Transient skilled and acknowledged authority on China. His guide tells readers how you can strengthen their very own management qualities, how you can form a group, and how you can use that group to have probably the most affect. You’ll be able to learn our overview of the guide right here – or higher but – hearken to our interview with Studeman on our Cowl Tales podcast (on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
One other four-trench-coat guide on management got here from retired Navy SEAL Admiral Bob Harward – The Gouge! Find out how to Be Smarter Than the Scenario You Are In.” To make sure no service favoritism, we turned to retired Military officer and former Deputy Director of the DIA, Doug Sensible, to overview it for us. Sensible says that Harward explains that “the gouge” is a Navy time period for “important data,” and he praised the guide for doing simply that in an brisk fashion which “transcends organizations and cultures and has common applicability.”
Wonderful Fiction
Seems you can make these things up. Our record accommodates 4 very completely different novels that share one attribute – having earned four-trench-coat critiques.
Let’s begin with the newest, “Metropolis of Misplaced Souls: A Jack Ford Shanghai Thriller” by Cipher Transient skilled and veteran CIA officer Marty Petersen. The novel is about almost a century in the past in Shanghai, the place an expat American personal investigator tries to assist a younger British lady discover her lacking brother. Ken Dekleva reviewed this one for us, calling it a “pleasant learn” which transports you again in time “to the scenes, delights, smells, gaudiness, character, cruelty and sensibility of Shanghai within the early Nineteen Thirties.” Petersen joined us on a latest Cowl Tales podcast (right here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify) and defined how the novel grew out of his passion of amassing ephemera from Shanghai – and the way the novel can assist readers perceive the mindset of contemporary day China.
Along with being an Asia skilled, Petersen can also be an aficionado of World Warfare II historical past – which made him the right option to overview “The Stressed Wave: A Novel of america Navy” by one other Cipher Transient skilled, retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis. In his overview, Petersen identified that “The Stressed Wave,” in describing the exploits of a younger naval officer in the course of the first years of the Second World Warfare, is “peppered all through” with actual figures – so the reader enjoys each the fictional adventures of the novel’s hero but additionally learns about all kinds of individuals from that period and tales of their real-world adventures. Stavridis joined Cipher Transient CEO Suzanne Kelly for a reside on-line guide membership dialogue of “The Stressed Wave,” and that session was preserved as a Cowl Tales podcast for listeners to take pleasure in (accessible on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
For a novel take a look at the world of intelligence – look no additional than “The Seventh Ground” by CIA veteran David McCloskey. We turned to a different Company veteran, and Cipher Transient skilled, Joe Augustyn to overview this one for us. Joe, who spent a variety of time on the 7th flooring (the place CIA management work), says that the power of the guide derives from how McCloskey brings the distinctive tradition of the CIA to life, and says that “McCloskey has written a extremely entertaining and engrossing guide that may absolutely fulfill the palate of these searching for a vicarious fictitious escape into the thrilling and unpredictable world of espionage.”
One factor you possibly can virtually all the time depend on is a gripping novel from Daniel Silva, that includes his hero Gabrial Allon. That holds true along with his newest installment: A Dying in Cornwall. CIA veterans Jay and Anne Gruner reviewed it for us and awarded it max trench coats. They advise that “in contrast to a lot of (Silva’s) earlier books, A Dying in Cornwall will not be about espionage operations or preventing terrorists, however somewhat a non-public battle towards greed and corruption on the highest monetary and political ranges in numerous Western nations, most notably within the U.Okay. The Gruners say “Silva has as soon as once more written an entrancing novel of worldwide suspense and surprising detours that’s each academic and satisfying. Superbly but merely written, the guide’s characters are memorable and their dialogue compelling.”
However Wait, There’s Extra
Our arbitrary cutoff on the four-trench-coat degree leaves out a number of books we all know would delight many readers. Consider the skilled reviewers of books for The Cipher Transient are on their very own in assigning trench coat scores – and a few of these people are powerful graders. Among the many not-quite-four-trench-coat books that we propose you try are: The Unintended Joe, a toque-and-dagger spy novel a couple of TV chef who finds himself in the midst of a CIA covert operation. Take a look at the overview by the exceedingly well-qualified particular person for the job — CIA veteran, TV producer and beginner chef Rodney Faraon. And likewise try our interview with writer Tom Straw on a Cowl Tales podcast (on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
We additionally extremely advocate Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum, reviewed for us by former Director of Nationwide Intelligence, Lt Gen. James Clapper, who we’re proud to say is one other Cipher Transient skilled. And llong considerably comparable strains, there may be To Run the World by Sergey Radchenko, reviewed by Cipher Transient Managing Editor Tom Nagorski. Tom says the guide is a sweeping take a look at the Chilly Warfare, stocked with classes for the present second.
One other memorable guide was Prisoner of Lies: Jack Down’s Chilly Warfare, by Barry Werth. Downey was a CIA officer held captive for twenty-one years in China. Former State Division officer Jim Bullock says in his overview that maybe probably the most attention-grabbing a part of the guide is the story of how Downey rebuilt his life after his launch. Additionally price your time is our Cowl Tales podcast interview with the writer Barry Werth.
One final suggestion: A Suspicion of Spies: Dangers, Secret and Shadows – the Lifetime of Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale.” Dunderdale is probably going largely unknown to American readers – however Cipher Transient skilled Tim Willasey-Wilsey says he’s nicely price studying about. The previous MI-6 official was one among “a couple of dozen pals of Ian Fleming regarded as fashions for James Bond.”
If we haven’t given you adequate to chew on but – try all of our critiques right here and our Cowl Tales podcasts too.
The 12 months forward
We’re trying ahead to reviewing some engaging new books in 2025: “The Chinese language Phantom: The Hunt for the World’s Most Harmful Arms Vendor”; “The Eurasian Century: Scorching Wars, Chilly Wars, and the Making of the Trendy World”; the cheerful sounding “Dying is Our Enterprise: Russian Mercenaries and the New Period of Personal Warfare”; and “Task in Saigon: A Chilly Warfare Thriller” by CIA veteran Invoice Rapp.
One of many issues that makes Cipher Transient critiques of books so helpful is that our reviewers are specialists in their very own proper. When you suppose you might have the chops to be a Cipher Transient reviewer, try our pointers right here – and for those who nonetheless suppose you’ll be match – ship a observe to us at [email protected] to toss your hat within the ring.
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