The Best Spy Books
recommended by former spies, spy novelists and historians
Last updated: December 28, 2025
The best books on Global Security, recommended by Chris Abbott
Global security consultant says sending armed forces into another country based on purely moral, gut feelings of good and evil is a dangerous policy-making premise. He chooses books on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Al Qaeda
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1
Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime-from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door
by Brian Krebs -
2
Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon
by Kim Zetter -
3
Worm: The First Digital World War
by Mark Bowden -
4
Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War
by Fred Kaplan -
5
Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations
by Amy Zegart & Herbert Lin
The Best Cyber Security Books, recommended by Josephine Wolff
The Best Cyber Security Books, recommended by Josephine Wolff
Not all important subjects make good reading, but cyber security is an exception: not only do we all need to know about and take responsibility for it, but it also generates nonfiction books worthy of John le Carré. Cyber security and policy expert Josephine Wolff, author of You’ll see this message when it is too late, recommends the best cyber security books.
The best books on Pioneers of Intelligence Gathering, recommended by Michael Goodman
The senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, chooses books on the real pioneers of British and American espionage – flawed men who saved lives and made a difference.
