Description:
For too long military history has ignored the role of intelligence. As a result, many people do not realize that military intelligence has played a significant role in history. However, intelligence gathering, evaluation, and analysis has always been part of war. Lack of knowledge of how intelligence has been utilized in wars makes for an incomplete and inaccurate picture of historical events. While many are aware of such things as the Allied code-breaking efforts in World War II, few know that similar activities were undertaken as early as the beginning of recorded history. By examining a number of case studies from Roman times to the present, Go Spy the Land reveals the essential continuity in military intelligence, the fact that many of the problems involved in military intelligence have remained constant, and the nature of the problems themselves.
According to the authors, military intelligence has always been an important aspect of military planning and campaigns. Furthermore, military intelligence in its essentials has not changed over time: while technology and society have affected the ways in which this essential activity has been carried out, the problems inherent in the task have remained constant. The latter conclusion is something not generally appreciated in the intelligence field, which has been dominated by historians studying the twentieth century. This collection not only provides important case studies, but also shows that much of what is claimed as exclusively a product of the twentieth century has its roots as far back in time as the Roman Empire.Brief description: B.J.C. McKERCHER is an Associate Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada. An international and diplomatic historian on Anglo-American relations, he is the author/editor of five books, including (with E.J. Errington) The Vietnam War as History (Praeger, 1990) and (with K.E. Neilson) Go Spy the Land: Military Intelligence in History (Praeger, 1992).
Review Quotes: "Articles in this anthology, originally presented in 1990 at the Sixteenth Military History Symposium of the Royal Military College of Canada, provide a historical dimension to a subject most often treated in contemporary contexts. The authors successfully establish the continued importance of intelligence in military planning. Ancient Romans, the combatants in the Hundred Years War, and diplomats and generals in the Age of Reason all depended on knowing their enemies' intentions while concealing their own. Interpretation of intelligence, however, is at least as important as information itself. The experiences of 19th-century Britain and modern Canada are used to show that the ways states and individuals perceive reality greatly affects the uses that are made of specific data. General essays further enhance the value of this volume, which is important for both scholars and interested general readers."-Library Journal