The Secrets of Spies: Inside the hidden world of international agents

Packed with dastardly details and top-secret stories, this book recounts thrilling tales of spies from the ancient world of Sun Tzu to the latest cyber threats.

From James Bond to Mata Hari, in scores of books and movies, and on the front pages of newspapers, spies have always captured our imagination. But what’s the truth behind the fiction? The Secrets of Spies sheds light on the mysterious life of the spy, explaining the real-life origins of spying, examining some of history’s most notorious spies and spycatchers, and revealing the role espionage plays today in business, politics, and everyday life.

Filled with lavish illustrations and hundreds of full-color photographs, this book provides hours of fun and entertainment for any reader. Narrated in an engaging, compelling style, The Secrets of Spies is a thrilling, in-depth global investigation of the hidden history of espionage. From ninja assassins to computer hackers, the book uncovers the tools, tricks, and techniques that make up the daring art of the spy.

Heather Vescent is a social scientist who studies future trends to help people understand and take advantage of change. She does this through speaking, consulting, research projects, design fictions, and media productions. Her company, The Purple Tornado, has been around since 2006. Prior to The Purple Tornado, she helped build and launch more than 50 Internet products at over 30 startups from 1996 to the 2005 in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. Recently, Heather completed an assignment with the Swift Innovation Team, Innotribe, based in New York, NY and La Hulpe, Brussels. She is best known for her research on the Future of Transactions, which she presented at SxSW, Sibos, TedxZwolle, The Future of Money,Tomorrow's Transactions and other conferences around the world. She is the producer and creator of 4 short films, including “Fly Me to the Moon;” nominated for the Most Important Futures Award by the Association of Professional Futurists, 2012; “Flowers for Grandma;” “Innotribe Startup Challenge Documentary," and “Slices of Life.”

Adrian Gilbert is an author who has written extensively on military and intelligence matters. Among his publications Waffen-SS: Hitler’s Army at War; the best-selling Sniper: One-on-One, and the Imperial War Museum Book of the Desert War, the latter volume part of a series that won the Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature. In the intelligence field, he was the author of the four-volume QED Spy Files series.

Rob Colson is an author and editor with a particular interest in the history of ideas. He was a contributing author to the DK books Battle and History, and was the lead editor of several titles in DK’s best-selling Big Ideas series. He has written more than seventy non-fiction books for adults and children on a diverse range of subjects, including natural history, technology, mathematics, and the history of science.