Why Spy?

The Art of Intelligence

Stewart Brian Newbery Samantha

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"Why Spy?" distills Brian Stewart's seventy years of experience in intelligence. Few books currently available have been written by someone who has his practical experience both of field work and of the intelligence bureaucracy at home and abroad. Stewart relates successes and failures via a fascinating series of vignettes, either those cases in which he was personally involved, or seminal events such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and draws conclusions that should be pondered by all those concerned with the limitations and usefulness of the intelligence product. He also cautions against the tendency to abuse or ignore intelligence findings when their conclusions do not fit with preconceived ideas. Stewart also reminds the reader of the multiplicity of methods and organisations and the wide range of talents making up the intelligence world.

Brian Stewart's co-author, scholar Samantha Newbery, emphasise throughout "Why Spy?" the necessity of embracing a range of sources, including police, political, military and overt, to ensure that secret intelligence is placed in as wide a context as possible when decisions are made.

About the Author

Brian Stewart, MC, CMG, went from Oxford into the Black Watch and studied Chinese during the pre-Communist turmoil. His career in the Malayan Civil Service and during later postings in Asia, including in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, was frequently concerned with intelligence in the field and his subsequent position as Secretary of the Joint Intelligence Committee in the Cabinet Office gave him a bird's eye view of the intelligence bureaucracy both in Britain and the United States. He continued to work in Asia, mostly in China, after leaving government service and to follow developments in the intelligence world with a critical eye.

Samantha Newbery is Lecturer in Contemporary Intelligence Studies, University of Salford.

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