Spying on the Reich: The Cold War Against Hitler

by R. T. Howard Narrated by Julian Elfer

Overview

Exactly a century ago, intelligence agencies across Europe first became aware of a fanatical German nationalist whose political party was rapidly gathering momentum. His name was Adolf Hitler.



From 1933, these spy services watched with growing alarm as they tried to determine what sort of threat Hitler's regime would now pose to the rest of Europe. Despite intense rivalry and mistrust between them, the spy chiefs began to liaise and close ranks against Nazi Germany. At the heart of this loose, informal network were the British and French intelligence services, alongside the Poles and Czechs. Some other countries-Holland, Belgium, and the United States-stood at the periphery.



Drawing on a wide range of previously unpublished British, French, German, Danish, and Czech archival sources, Spying on the Reich tells the story of Germany and its rearmament in the 1920s and 1930s; its relations with foreign governments and their intelligence services; and the relations and rivalries between Western governments, seen through the prism of the cooperation, or lack of it, between their spy agencies. Along the way, it addresses some of the most intriguing questions that still perplex historians of the period, such as how and why Britain defended Poland in September 1939, and what alternative policies could have been pursued?

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"incisive" — Colin Shindler

"fascinating" — Francis P. Sempa, New York Journal of Books

"Profitable reading for students of spycraft and the early stirrings of the war in Europe." — , Kirkus Reviews

"a well-researched and revealing account...Packed with a colorful cast of characters and offering pinpoint analysis of where the Allies went wrong, this will delight espionage buffs." — , Publishers Weekly

"RT Howard does an admirable job" — NS, History of War

"remarkably thorough and well-researched" — Zareer Masani, Literary Review

"R.T. Howard has done an admirable job, given [the] limitations. Spying on the Reich is substantial and engaging." — John Foster , The Battleground

"extraordinarily fertile and captivating book" — Richard Lofthouse, QUAD

"Spying on the Reich is a well-crafted historical whodunit." — Choice

"The book demonstrates that an isolated history of the secret services provides some exciting stories of spies and their adventurous activities." — Benno Nietzel, German Studies Review

Kirkus Reviews

2023-01-25
Analytical study of the work of British, French, and other intelligence services to attain accurate information on Hitler’s regime.

While the governments of Britain and France pursued appeasement to attempt to contain Hitler’s ambitions, they—along with Czechoslovakia and Poland—also launched complex programs to place spies on the ground inside Germany to gather particular bits of information. One spy learned, for instance, that Germany’s vaunted Luftwaffe was unprepared for war as late as 1938, though at home in London, British military planners nonetheless agonized over questions such as whether German efficiency and the availability of skilled labor and raw materials, including rubber and steel, could speed the military buildup. Historian Howard notes that the “constantly evolving” relationships among the prewar allies meant that information and its interpretation were not efficiently shared. Furthermore, due to shifting diplomatic arrangements, Czech spies were disinclined to work with the French. For their part, writes Howard, the French were very good at detecting German spies on their turf and at turning them into double agents, even if the Gestapo was also quite adept at ferreting out those agents and providing them with false information. Some of Howard’s cases in point are dashing, in the manner of movie spies, such as one British officer who had “a keen interest in fast cars, amateur dramatics, and poetry.” Wowing his peers but sometimes offered doubtful assertions, he did provide solid data on the increasingly bellicose turn of public opinion inside the Reich. Howard’s narrative plods along—he’s certainly no Alan Furst—but there are useful observations throughout, particularly when he speculates about whether a stronger coordination of efforts among the allies “could have exploited the specific vulnerabilities of the Third Reich and perhaps averted war.”

Profitable reading for students of spycraft and the early stirrings of the war in Europe.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178319840
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	04/26/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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