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Most Secret and Confidential - Intelligence in the Age of Nelson (Paperback)
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Most Secret and Confidential - Intelligence in the Age of Nelson (Paperback)
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In today's world of satellites and electronic eavesdropping, it is
hard to appreciate the difficulties involved two centuries ago in
collecting and disseminating secret intelligence in time of war.
This book treats readers to a close-up look at the ingenious
methods used to obtain and analyse secret material and deliver it
to operational forces at sea. It brings together information from a
variety of sources to provide the first concise analysis of the use
and development of intelligence in the days of fighting sail. The
British experience from 1793 to 1815 is the book's main focus, but
it also includes French and American activity. In addition the book
examines how commanders used the information to develop strategy
and tactics and win--or sometime lose--battles. A naval
intelligence officer himself, author Steven Maffeo illustrates the
role of this ""dark craft"" by concentrating on the experiences of
Lord Nelson and his contemporaries. A profoundly complex figure,
Nelson epitomised the active acquisition of intelligence and the
bold execution of decisions based on an understanding of the
material, and Maffeo offers fresh and illuminating information that
supports the admiral's high regard for intelligence work. Reading
at times like a cloak-and-dagger mystery, the story is filled with
examples of how Nelson and his associates dealt with intelligence
obstacles and how the outcomes affected their own futures, and, in
some cases, the history of the modern world. Maffeo's anecdotes
give marvellous insight into the thoughts of the era's important
figures, Bonaparte, Pitt, Spencer, and Cochrane--not to mention
C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and
Maturin. The author's winning combination of vibrant narrative and
zeal for accuracy assures this book a place in the libraries of
military and intelligence professionals, historians, and Forester
and O'Brian aficionados.
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