Brainstorm 321: Nonfiction Spy Stories

I started working on the spy stories Brainstorm today for your dark and stormy night reading and realized I had so many great nonfiction spy stories they should get their own Brainstorm. So I’ll share the fictional spy stories next week and give you the nonfiction recommendations today. After the spies have their days, I’ll share the promised scifi/mystery subgenre reads. Click on the titles to see my full reviews including any content notes/trigger warnings.

Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone by Larry Devlin

In a nutshell: The CIA's man in Congo after they gained independence from Belgium shares his efforts to keep them from falling to Communist influence.

More info: Larry Devlin was the CIA's man in Congo for some of the main years of unrest right after it gained independence from Belgium. At that time the Soviet Union was looking for a country to be their foothold in Africa, so Larry spent most of his years trying to keep Congo out of the hands of the Soviets. No small task when the country is in turmoil and power keeps changing hands.

Extra thoughts: This was a fascinating read. It gave some great insights into the Cold War power struggles in Africa, an eye-opening look at what a real CIA agent's life is like and Embassy life (not what you might always imagine).

Target readers: Memoir Fans, Cold War Story Fans, Africa Setting Fans, History Fans, Crazy True Story Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)

MI5 and Me: a Coronet among the Spooks by Charlotte Bingham

In a nutshell: A cozy and humorous memoir of a young woman whose spy father recruited her to be a secretary for MI5.

More info: Charlotte Bingham was called into her father's office at 18 and told she needed to do something with her life. Oh, and her father works for MI5 and he's getting her a job as a secretary there. After recovering from that bombshell Charlotte was sure life as an MI5 secretary would be miserable and boring. Only time would tell if she was right or not.

Extra thoughts: This was a fascinating and very entertaining memoir about what real life was like in the 1950s as a secretary at MI5. Bingham relates her experiences with touches of humor that make this highly readable (I devoured it in 1 sitting).

Target readers: Memoir Fans, Humor Fans, Less Tense Spy Story Fans, Crazy True Story Fans, Adult Readers (though totally approachable to YA)

Spies: the Secret Showdown between America and Russia by Marc Favreau

In a nutshell: A history of spycraft between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War.

More info: The nutshell says it all. 

Extra thoughts: This is pretty succinct and really just touches on some of the biggest moments in spying during the Cold War. You learn some of the biggest spies on each side, and moments when things got really dicey.

Target readers: History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Cold War Studiers, Readers Looking for Just the Highlights, YA Readers (though approachable to Middle Grade)

Spies by David Long, ill. by Terri Po

In a nutshell: An illustrated collection of brief biographies of spies from both sides of the WWII conflict.

More info: The nutshell says it all again. 

Extra thoughts: Based on the chapters on people I had read much longer books on, David Long did an amazing job of succinctly summarizing the key parts of their missions. I like that the font is larger than normal for a middle grade book and is dyslexia-friendly, making this a good pick for middle grade readers with visual acuity issues.

Target Readers: WWII Story Fans, Short Biography Collection Fans, Readers with Visual Acuity Issues (Like Dyslexia), Fans of Heavily-Illustrated Books, Nonfiction Fans, Random Fact Collectors, Middle Grade Readers (though interesting enough for YA and Adults)

The Spy and the Traitor: the Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben MacIntyre

In a nutshell: A biography of a KGB traitor who fed info to MI6 and played a pivotal role in the Cold War behind the scenes.

More info: A biography of Oleg Gordievsky, who was raised in a KGB family, recruited to the KGB at a young age and quickly rose in the ranks working in Scandinavia and then England. The book outlines how he was recruited by MI6 and the role he played behind the scenes in the Cold War and world history because of his spying.

Extra thoughts: This book reveals many behind the scenes things about the Cold War, like how close the world came to a nuclear war, and how important Gordievsky's spying was for peace talks, that made for a riveting and eye-opening historical read. It was also a good dose of reality to balance out the perception of spies in Hollywood.

Target readers: Crazy True Story Fans, Biography Fans, Cold War Studiers, History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (approachable to some YA readers)

Unbreakable: the Spies Who Cracked the Nazis’ Secret Code by Rebeca E.F. Barone

In a nutshell: A history of the people who broke the Enigma code during WWII.

More info: A look at the Polish, French, and British linguists, mathematicians, spies, and soldiers who were responsible for enabling the Allies to break the Enigma encoded messages the Nazis were sending to each other.

Extra thoughts: This was a fascinating read. I learned a lot, but it was extremely readable. And though it is approachable enough for middle grade, it has enough historic details not talked about much elsewhere that even YA and adult readers interested in WWII will likely enjoy this.

Target readers: WWII Story Fans, History Fans, Code Breaker Stories, Nonfiction Fans, Middle Grade/YA/Adult Readers

Wise Gals: the Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage by Nathalia Holt

In a nutshell: A history of women in the Central Intelligence Agency of the USA.

More info: A history of women in the CIA, focusing on some of the original women who transitioned from being OSS operatives to being in the CIA or were in the very first class of trainees. Their names were Adelaide (Addy) Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, Jane Burrell, and Elizabeth (Liz) Sudmeier. All but one of these women got together in the 1950s to do a study on inequalities of women in the CIA and submitted their data and stories to try and improve the situation for women. They were largely ignored, but they paved the way with their solid records and work ethic to open doors for women in the future. These are their untold stories.

Extra thoughts: This is a fairly long book, but I found it a quick read for a nonfiction book. It is well-written and explores gender equality issues as well as how the spy trade changed from WWII to chasing Nazi war criminals to Cold War tensions to anti-terrorism from the 1930s-1980s. 

Target readers: History Fans, Collective Biography Fans, Gender Equality Story Fans, CIA Evolution Studiers, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to some YA interested enough in the topics)

The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life by Amy Butler Greenfield

In a nutshell: A biography of one of the most instrumental code breakers in the US in the 20th century.

More info: A biography of Elizebeth Smith Friedman who became an instrumental code and cipher breaker in the first half of the 20th century, bringing down mob and drug leaders, figuring out WWII secrets, and paving the way for women leaders in the field.

Extra thoughts: Amy Butler Greenfield did a phenomenal job of presenting Elizebeth's story for teens. It was expertly researched, included lots of photos, and had just the right amount of code breaking details to show Elizebeth's genius without causing readers to get lost in the technical details. I like this even better than the adult biography on Elizebeth I’ve read, The Woman Who Smashed Codes.

Target readers: Biography Fans, STEM Bio Fans, History Fans, Code Breaker Story Fans, Young Adult Readers (though of interest to Adult readers, and approachable to some Middle Grade readers)

A Woman of No Importance: the Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell

In a nutshell: A biography of Virginia Hall, an American woman who lost a leg prior to the war, but still successfully ran extensive networks of French resistance workers in Southern France during WWII.

More info: In Lyon, France at the outset of WWII, an American woman who used to work for the US State Department but felt frustrated with desk work found her niche. Virginia Hall was reluctantly sent to France by the British SEO under the cover of being a journalist. They weren't super enthusiastic or hopeful about sending a woman to start resistance groups, but she spoke French and German fluently, and she was very eager to go. She was to prove to be one of their best assets of the war, but she worked so much behind the scenes and shunned accolades, so that despite her successes and vital work for the Allies, she had all but disappeared from history until Purnell started digging. What she relates is an incredible story of a woman who despite being an amputee before the war, managed to build extensive networks of French resistance workers, designed and enabled one of the most successful prison escapes of Allied operatives, and helped free the first section of Southern France from German control with only resistance workers.

Extra thoughts: This is an eye-opening biography, one of the best WWII spy biographies I’ve ever read, and that’s mainly due to the impressive amount of research into history that was meant to be buried in many instances because of its clandestine nature.

Target readers: Biography Fans, WWII Story Fans, History Fans, Amputee Overcomer Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Crazy True Story Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to some YA)