True Spies: 12 Top Books About CIA, FBI, KGB, Mossad & Their Daring Spy Operations

True Spies is an eclectic weekly podcast seen through the eyes of the real spies behind some of the world’s greatest operations. Our agents reveal their secrets and skills, bringing you with them on dangerous missions to test your spy skills. 

Many of our guests also accomplished authors, so we’ve also selected a dozen of their bestsellers to put you in the middle of the action. What would you do in their position?

Deep Undercover

Former KGB officer Jack Barsky couldn’t turn down the offer to work Deep Undercover as a sleeper spy in New York City during the height of the Cold War, even if that meant making life and death decisions. Barsky, author of Deep Undercover reveals his thrilling story in our podcast True Spies: The Illegal.

Mossad Exodus

Ex-Mossad officer Gad Shimron, author of Mossad Exodus, ran a diving resort as a cover to bring thousands of Sudanese Jews to Israel in a mission known as Operation Brothers. The operation was likely to end in one of two ways: either Shimron would save lives or he'd lose his own. Hear more from Shimron in True Spies: Operation Brothers.

Fair Game

CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity was leaked during President George W. Bush’s administration. Overnight, the operations she’d worked on, searching out intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, were at risk. Some officials though Plame was Fair Game. What would you do in Valerie’s position? Her story unfolds in True Spies: Fair Game?

Gray Day

Eric O’Neill was an FBI rookie when he was plucked from his surveillance unit and assigned to spy on a dangerous suspected spy. Senior FBI counterintelligence officer Robert Hanssen was a KGB double agent and possibly the most dangerous spy in American history. Eric, author of Gray Day, shares his chilling story in the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: Gray Suit & The Ghost.


Special Forces Berlin

Former operator James Stejskal shares the secrets of his elite, clandestine unit Special Forces Berlin in his book of the same name. The unit was at the center of the Tehran Hostage Crisis at one point, but no one could know they were there. Listen in on True Spies: Shadow Games.

State Department

As former Deputy Director of the Office of Counterintelligence, author Robert Booth was tasked with investigating individuals within the department who were recruited as spies for foreign governments. How would you catch a traitor? Listen in on the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: The Spycatcher.

The Moscow Rules

Jonna Mendez was chief of disguise at the CIA’s Office of Technical Service for decades, fabricating disguises for agents and colleagues in some of the world’s most hostile locations. Mendez shares her Moscow Rules story in True Spies: The Art of Disguise.

The Unexpected Spy

Tracy Walder was a CIA officer in the Counterterrorism Center after 9/11 and then became an FBI Special Agent specializing in Chinese counterintelligence. In many ways, she was The Unexpected Spy. Do you have what it takes to work for two of the US’s premier agencies? Hear Walder’s fascinating tale on the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: The Rookie and bin Laden.

True Spies: 12 Top Books About CIA, FBI, KGB, Mossad & Their Daring Spy Operations

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True Spies is an eclectic weekly podcast seen through the eyes of the real spies behind some of the world’s greatest operations. Our agents reveal their secrets and skills, bringing you with them on dangerous missions to test your spy skills. 

Many of our guests also accomplished authors, so we’ve also selected a dozen of their bestsellers to put you in the middle of the action. What would you do in their position?

Deep Undercover

Former KGB officer Jack Barsky couldn’t turn down the offer to work Deep Undercover as a sleeper spy in New York City during the height of the Cold War, even if that meant making life and death decisions. Barsky, author of Deep Undercover reveals his thrilling story in our podcast True Spies: The Illegal.

Mossad Exodus

Ex-Mossad officer Gad Shimron, author of Mossad Exodus, ran a diving resort as a cover to bring thousands of Sudanese Jews to Israel in a mission known as Operation Brothers. The operation was likely to end in one of two ways: either Shimron would save lives or he'd lose his own. Hear more from Shimron in True Spies: Operation Brothers.

Fair Game

CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity was leaked during President George W. Bush’s administration. Overnight, the operations she’d worked on, searching out intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, were at risk. Some officials though Plame was Fair Game. What would you do in Valerie’s position? Her story unfolds in True Spies: Fair Game?

Gray Day

Eric O’Neill was an FBI rookie when he was plucked from his surveillance unit and assigned to spy on a dangerous suspected spy. Senior FBI counterintelligence officer Robert Hanssen was a KGB double agent and possibly the most dangerous spy in American history. Eric, author of Gray Day, shares his chilling story in the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: Gray Suit & The Ghost.


Special Forces Berlin

Former operator James Stejskal shares the secrets of his elite, clandestine unit Special Forces Berlin in his book of the same name. The unit was at the center of the Tehran Hostage Crisis at one point, but no one could know they were there. Listen in on True Spies: Shadow Games.

State Department

As former Deputy Director of the Office of Counterintelligence, author Robert Booth was tasked with investigating individuals within the department who were recruited as spies for foreign governments. How would you catch a traitor? Listen in on the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: The Spycatcher.

The Moscow Rules

Jonna Mendez was chief of disguise at the CIA’s Office of Technical Service for decades, fabricating disguises for agents and colleagues in some of the world’s most hostile locations. Mendez shares her Moscow Rules story in True Spies: The Art of Disguise.

The Unexpected Spy

Tracy Walder was a CIA officer in the Counterterrorism Center after 9/11 and then became an FBI Special Agent specializing in Chinese counterintelligence. In many ways, she was The Unexpected Spy. Do you have what it takes to work for two of the US’s premier agencies? Hear Walder’s fascinating tale on the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: The Rookie and bin Laden.

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Black Klansman

Ron Stallworth, a black Colorado cop, fooled the US's most notorious racists, infiltrating a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s to lead a double-pronged attack on the group - even gaining the trust of the Klan's leader, David Duke. Find out more about the Black Klansman in the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: The Real Black Klansman.

Behind Enemy Lines

Marthe Cohn, a brave French spy posed as a German nurse Behind Enemy Lines to feed Berlin’s Nazi secrets to the Allies during WWII. Operating behind enemy lines, under the nose of the Nazis, her courage and cunning saved countless lives. Her story is recounted in: True Spies: The Survivor.

Undercover Jihadi

Mubin Shaikh, a Muslim extremist, became a spy for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service going undercover as a member of the terrorist group known as the Toronto 18. Mubin, author of Undercover Jihadi, was told that his cover was blown but even that couldn't stop him. Listen in on his terrifying story: True Spies: Undercover Jihadi.

Ghost

Former FBI undercover agent Michael McGowan was working undercover during the capture of the Mexican drug lord El Chapo. To trap this murderous gangster, Michael had to convince him that he was in the same business. His thrilling story, Ghost, is revealed in the SPYSCAPE podcast True Spies: The Purple Bathrobe.

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