Contributor Picks--Best Books on Intelligence

We asked our authors to suggest the best books on intelligence, for those interested in learning more about the topic. The list below compiles their recommendations.

A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century, by Jeffrey T. Richelson, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.

A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency, by Richard Helms with William Hood, New York: Random House, 2003.

A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA, by Duane R. Clarridge with Digby Diehl, New York, NY: Scribner, 1997.

A World of Secrets:The Uses and Limits of Intelligence, by Walter Laqeuer, New York: Basic Books, 1985.

Agents of Innocence: A Spy's Story, by David Ignatius, New York: W.W. Norton, 1997.

Best Truth: Intelligence in the Information Age, by Bruce Berkowitz and Allan E. Goodman, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000.

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History, by George Crile, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003.

Donovan and the CIA: A History of the Establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency, by Thomas F. Troy, Frederick, Md.: Aletheia Books, 1981.

For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush, by Christopher Andrew, New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1995.

Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, by Mark M. Lowenthal, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2000.

Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence, by Abram N. Shulsky, 3rd ed., rev. Washington, D.C. : Brassey's, Inc. 2002.

Strategic Intelligence for American World Policy, by Sherman Kent, Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1965.

The Agency The Rise and Decline of the CIA, by John Ranelagh, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.

The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945-65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations, by Richard J Aldrich, Gary D. Rawnsley, and Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley (eds.), London: Frank Cass, 2000.

The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet, by David Kahn, New York: Scribner Book Company, 1967, revised 1996.

The Hidden Hand: Britain, America and Cold War Secret Intelligence, by Richard J. Aldrich, Woodstock, NY : Overlook Press, 2002.

The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB, by Milt Bearden and James Risen, New York: Random House, 2003.

The New Terrorism: Anatomy, Trends and Counter-Strategies, by Andrew Tan and Kumar Ramakrishna (eds.), Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2002.

The Sword and the Shield : the Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, New York: Basic Books, 1999.

The Very Best Men: Four who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA, by Evan Thomas, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.