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by mooncakes_ooohh 1744 days ago
I've always been a fan of espionage related stories but I was born sometime after the fall of the Berlin wall, so anything Cold War just seems like a tale from a time long ago. Does anyone have recommendations of books dealing with espionage in the contemporary age? Bonus if it's cyberespionage related.
2 comments
randycupertino 1744 days ago
You might like American Kingpin by Nick Bilton which covers the rise and fall of the Silk Road website. There's a lot of "spy stuff" that takes place both when the DEA agents get involved in the case and start stealing bitcoins themselves and cyber sleuthing (well, basically just reading, lots and lots of reading) by the IRS agent who ultimately ID'd Ross via an old username and matching it to one of his throwaway gmail addresses from a message board.

It's a fantastic read- basically a nonfiction that reads like a thriller. Also, if you're from the Bay Area you'll notice a lot of the action takes place here- their final bust happened 3 blocks away from me!

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stef25 1744 days ago
There's a whole bunch of books about the CIA and the lead up to and aftermath of 9/11:

- Currently absorbed in Ghost Wars in audiobook format. Won a Pulitzer. All about the CIA and their dealing with their Pakistani counterpart ISI and the Afghan war lords. Lots of great cowboy stories and incredible amount of detail.

- The Targeter by Nada Bakos

- On another topic, you might enjoy The Spy on Netflix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spy_(TV_series) about Eli Cohen working as a spy in Syria.

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RcouF1uZ4gsC 1744 days ago
Speaking of Eli Cohen:

His most famous achievement was the tour of the Golan Heights in which he collected intelligence on the Syrian fortifications there. According to an unconfirmed but widely believed story, he feigned sympathy for the soldiers exposed to the sun and had trees planted at every position, placed to provide shade. The Israel Defense Forces were alleged to have used the trees as targeting markers during the Six-Day War, which enabled Israel to capture the Golan Heights in two days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Cohen

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leephillips 1744 days ago
That episode is in the Netflix show.
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