The Mossad and Other Israeli Spies (Spies Around the World)

An eye-opening exploration of the history of the 1951-founded Mossad and other Israeli espionage agencies, investigating their typical training and tools as well as the escapades of famous spies.

Gr 8 Up-Focused more on the histories of spying organizations, each title looks at a different agency, making references to popular culture (e.g., the work of the CIA is compared to the "Bourne" trilogy) and showing the difference between reality and movies. While not adding career how-to's, the volumes showcase famous spies from history, going back to the origins of each agency, as well as "Tools of the Trade" and major cases. The design mimics files folders, and large archival and color photographs correspond well to the texts. Sidebars deliver additional information and extensive indexes make the titles easy to use for quick facts. Strong beginning-to-end reads.α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* What is the Mossad? Even a book this smart, enlightening, and often thrilling offers no easy answers. This “shadowy organization, charged with keeping Israel safe from outside enemies,” was established by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion in the late 1950s as the heart of a soon-to-be notorious intelligence network. Its inner workings remain cloaked, but some of its missions are legend: the smuggling of Adolf Eichmann out of Argentina, the revenge upon the Munich Olympics killers, and the Entebbe hostage rescue of 1976. With a sidebar-heavy, cardboard-beige design that makes it look as if you’re paging through a top-secret file drawer crammed with mug shots, fingerprints, maps, and more, this entry into the Spies around the World series gives an expedient but surprisingly robust report that ranges from general spy information (the reason people becomes spies can be explained with MICE: money, ideology, compromise, and ego) to specifics on Israel’s strengths (computer hacking); patient, long-term campaigns (the bombing of potential nuclear facilities in Syria); and notable spies (and “spymasters”) of the past. An elegantly laid out compendium of known facts about a country whose security networks “can’t always play by the rules.” Grades 6-9. --Daniel Kraus