The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege

Operation Snakebite

Exemplary. An uncommonly vivid portrait of battle, matched by sharp investigation of purposes, intrigues and cock-ups

Superb, fast-paced. Captures the grit and the gore, the exhaustion and emotion, the killing and the dying. A fine piece of war reporting

Grey manages to get across the chaos and the hellish fear experienced by those under fire at the sharp end of battle. Will long outlast the events it recounts

The fear, the courage, the uncertainty, the gut-wrenching personal tragedies and the sheer mayhem of two days' intensive fighting is frequently more vivid than any film. Terrific

A fascinating insight . . . a catalogue of doubt, criticism and anger

A revealing, exceptional piece of reportage

Stephen Grey is a 41-year-old journalist based in London best known for his world-exclusive revelations on the CIA's secret rendition program. His first book Ghost Plane, on the subject of rendition, was published in 2006. He is a former editor on the Sunday Times' investigations unit.

Coming up to Christmas, and reporter Stephen Grey is embedded with B Company, 2 Yorks, in southern Afghanistan during Operation Snakebite. Their mission: to take the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala. For some this battle will be their last. 
 
In the thick of the fighting, Grey provides a breathtaking boots-and-bullets glimpse of combat chaos as British, American and Afghan forces struggle to secure a dusty little desert town known to be crucial to the drug trade. 
 
Operation Snakebite reveals everything you need to know about the brutal conflict in Afghanistan: from the political infighting and bureaucratic interference to the frontline troops soldiering on with unsuitable gear and poor intelligence.

Stephen Grey

Revelatory, deeply informed, subtle

A manual of modern espionage. Farewell George Smiley. The targets are new, the methods different, the technology hyper. Only the purpose remains - forewarning

Frederick Forsyth, author of 'Day of the Jackal'

There are many books on spies and spying, but few as perceptive or rigorous as this. Full of revelations . . . A very enjoyable read. Should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the world we live in, the threats we face, and those who are charged with keeping us safe

Jason Burke, author of 'Al Qaeda' and 'The 9/11 Wars'

I urge spymasters new and old - but more importantly those who want to understand the role of espionage - to read this remarkably accurate and detailed account of the CIA's transition from Cold War to ISIS War, from nuclear attack to hacker attack. Stephen Grey nails the story in this exceptionably readable book

John Macgaffin III, former Associate Deputy Director for CIA Operations

Exceptional. A blueprint for productive, sophisticated espionage in the age of Islamist terror

Draws on an impressive array of interviews with serving intelligence officers. A page-turner for those outside the secret world, and a thought-provoker for those inside it

Valuable and thought-provoking, breaks new ground. A good manual for the spy cadets of the future, the dangers they face and traps they may well fall into

Inside Espionage from the Cold War to Global Terror

Spying has changed. In this era of email intercepts and drone strikes, spooks are expected to uncover plots buried in mountains of data. Yet this makes the need for trained field operatives who can verify facts and uncover secrets more acute than ever. The human factor endures. 
 
In The New Spymasters, the first real account of how modern espionage works, we follow riveting stories of dramatic missions and the larger-than-life characters who undertook them. These were moments when success - and ultimately life or death - depended on whether the right person was in the right place... at exactly the right time.

The New Spymasters

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

Join our newsletter for 10% off at the Penguin Shop

Stephen Grey

Praise for The New Spymasters

Revelatory, deeply informed, subtle

A manual of modern espionage. Farewell George Smiley. The targets are new, the methods different, the technology hyper. Only the purpose remains - forewarning

There are many books on spies and spying, but few as perceptive or rigorous as this. Full of revelations . . . A very enjoyable read. Should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the world we live in, ...

Revelatory, deeply informed, subtle

A manual of modern espionage. Farewell George Smiley. The targets are new, the methods different, the technology hyper. Only the purpose remains - forewarning

There are many books on spies and spying, but few as perceptive or rigorous as this. Full of revelations . . . A very enjoyable read. Should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the world we live in, ...

Revelatory, deeply informed, subtle

A manual of modern espionage. Farewell George Smiley. The targets are new, the methods different, the technology hyper. Only the purpose remains - forewarning

There are many books on spies and spying, but few as perceptive or rigorous as this. Full of revelations . . . A very enjoyable read. Should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the world we live in, ...

Books by Stephen Grey

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter