How Spies Think cover art

How Spies Think

Ten Lessons in Intelligence

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

How Spies Think

By: David Omand
Narrated by: David Omand
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the former director of GCHQ, learn the methodology used by the British intelligence agencies to reach judgements, establish the right level of confidence and act decisively.

Intelligence officers discern the truth. They gather information - often contradictory or incomplete - and, with it, they build the most accurate possible image of the world. With the stakes at their absolute highest, they must then decide what to do.

In everyday life, you are faced with contradictory, incomplete information, too. Reading the news on social media, figuring out the next step in your career, or trying to discover if gossip about a friend is legitimate, you are building an image of the world and making decisions about it.

Looking through the eyes of one of Britain's most senior ex-intelligence officers, Professor Sir David Omand, How Spies Think shows how the big decisions in your life will be easier to make when you apply the same frameworks used by British intelligence. Full of revealing examples from his storied career, including key briefings with prime ministers from Thatcher to Blair, and conflicts from the Falklands to Afghanistan, Professor Omand arms us with the tools to sort fact from fiction and shows us how to use real intelligence every day.

©2020 David Omand (P)2020 Penguin Audio
Creativity & Genius Freedom & Security Personal Success Espionage
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

How to Survive a Crisis cover art
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms cover art
Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life cover art
Lords of Secrecy cover art
The Art of Conjuring Alternate Realities cover art
GCHQ cover art
Russia's War on Everybody cover art
The Kill Chain cover art
The Weaponisation of Everything cover art
The Psychology of Spies and Spying cover art
Understanding Cyber Conflict: 14 Analogies cover art
Rocket Man cover art
The Russia Trap cover art
Black Ops cover art
The Lazarus Heist cover art
Countdown to Zero Day cover art

Critic reviews

"One of the best books ever written about intelligence analysis and its long-term lessons. Brilliant, lucid and thought-provoking." (Christopher Andrew, author of The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5)

What listeners say about How Spies Think

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    75
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    64
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Insightful listen

A wealth of information that was organised in a way to offer some great insights. A thoroughly enjoyable listen and I would definitely recommend👍😃

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Seldomly I find books of this calibre

This is a highly recommendable book if you are interested in strategy. It is rare to get so much valuable info in one book, specially with the cut out specific situations from our recent history, that adds tention and extra authenticity to the content.

I don't like to give this high rating of a book and never thought I would do it but here it is....
Well done and earned David Omand!

It's read in with a enjoyable trusted voice and it's a diamond in my book collection. I had to also buy it since I wanted to follow up details in its content. I can do nothin else than highly recommend you to read it. No nonsense, just facts, analysis and strategies at its best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Great insights to analytical thinking. Book kept me interested and engaged throughout. Will definitely check out his other books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An old spy's essential lessons for the digital age

While in parts overly technical for the lay reader, stick with it. The insights of a life in secret intelligence from the late sixties onwards covering Northern Ireland, The Falklands War, The conflict in the former Yugoslavia, to the interference in the US and European democratic processes by Putin's Russia. David Omand brings that technical evaluation of information for the reader / listener in a way that gives useful basic tools in information evaluation for future use. It will not make you an expert, in the same way that basic car maintenance skills does not make you a mechanic but you will be better equipped for the digital age by knowing those skills.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

A real gem, a must for everybody’s list. Well structured and engaging. He involves the reader and has delivered an impactful piece.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

PaleSkinnySwede

Just a short note that this book should be read by everyone before an upcoming election.

It takes you on a mind boggling journey how to think, maybe not just as a spy, but as a human being and citisen of the modern world.

I loved Mr Omand’s voice. I had the tempo on x1.2 which worked well for me.

It is a brilliant book! Thank you for taking the time to write and record it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The title doesnt do the book justice.

It should be. (How Intelligence Analysts think) I am about to consume this for the fourth time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant - full of unique experience & helpful hope

Brilliant - full of unique experience & helpful hope. Beautifully written and read. Great recent history of UK politics and ways to aid decision making in your own life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Fine, just not what I’d expected

An interesting listen but not really what I’d expected. I thought it might be a bit more psychology based but the book focuses mostly on case studies of political happenings.
Found it quite hard to digest much information.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I was expecting too much

This starts off well, some nice insights about how to think about information, but descends into a lecture on mainstream globalist agenda.
if you are looking for some sort of spy secrets or revelations, I would consider looking elsewhere.

There is basically nothing here that you would not have already heard from watching or reading mainstream media. it is all highly curated, on message, down with the agenda.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!