The Central Intelligence Agency: An Encyclopedia of Covert Ops, Intelligence Gathering and Spies

The world of espionage and secret ops continues to intrigue and fascinate millions of people – including me. By definition a secret is unknown to almost everybody but, to be worth keeping, it must be supremely worth knowing: that is to say, so sensitive and so precious that it can be entrusted only to a very few. Therein lies the tantalising power of secrecy. The super-sensitive nature of such material can be seen from the British government's official definition of Top Secret or Most Secret: ‘material the unauthorised disclosure of which would cause exceptionally grave damage to the interests of...