Historical Dictionary of World War II Intelligence

In the years immediately following World War II, information was disclosed about what has been termed the "shadow war" between hitherto secret agencies. In Germany it was the Abwehr and the Sicherheitsdienst; in Britain it was MIS, the Secret Intelligence Service, and Special Operations Executive; in the United States it was the Office of Strategic Services and the Special Intelligence Service of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; in Japan it was the Kempeitai; and in Italy it was the Servicio di Informazione Militare. Sixty years after World War II, information is still being released about the covert activities that took place. Many countries, even those that were ostensibly neutral, had secret agencies and stealthy operations. Changes in American, British, and Soviet official attitudes to declassification in the 1980s allowed thousands of classified documents to be made available for public examination, and the result was extensive revision of the histories of the conflict, which had previously excluded references to clandestine intelligence sources.
Historical Dictionary of World War II Intelliqence tells the emerging history of intelligence during the war through a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on secret agencies, operations, and events. The world of double agents, spies, and moles during World War II is explained in this comprehensive reference.

Nigel West is the European editor of International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence and teaches the history of postwar intelligence at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies in Alexandria, Virginia.