Stephen Grey

The New Spymasters by Stephen Grey - Inside Espionage from the Cold War to Al-Qaeda In this era of email intercepts and drone strikes, many believe that the spy is dead. What use are double agents and dead letter boxes compared to the all-seeing digital eye?They couldn't be more wrong. The spying game is changing, but the need for walking, talking sources who gather secret information has never been more acute. And they are still out there. In this searing modern history of espionage, Stephen Grey takes us from the CIA's Cold War legends, to the agents who betrayed the IRA, through to the spooks inside Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Techniques and technologies have evolved, but the old motivations for betrayal - patriotism, greed, revenge, compromise - endure. This is a revealing story of how spycraft and the 'human factor' survive, against the odds. Based on years of research and interviews with hundreds of secret sources, many of the stories in the book have never been fully told. The New Spymasters will appeal to fans of John le Carre, Jason Bourne and Ben Macintyre. Stephen Grey is a British writer, broadcaster and investigative reporter with over two decades of experience of reporting on intelligence issues. He is best known for his world exclusive revelations about the CIA's program of 'extraordinary rendition', as well as reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. A former foreign correspondent and investigations editor with the Sunday Times, he has reported for the New York Times, Guardian, BBC and Channel 4, and is currently a special correspondent with Reuters. Grey is the author of Ghost Plane (2007), on the CIA, and Operation Snakebite (2009) about the war in Helmand, Afghanistan.

The New Spymasters

Investigative journalist Grey tells the inside story of international prisons sanctioned by the U.S. Government and used by the CIA to hold and torture people suspected of terrorism. He takes an unflinching look at a practice that scorns Geneva Convention

The True Story of the CIA Torture Program

Ghost Plane

In December 2007, Stephen Grey, a Sunday Times reporter, was under fire in Afghanistan as British and US forces struggled to liberate the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala. Taking shelter behind an American armoured Humvee, Grey turned his head to witness scenes of carnage. A car and a truck were riddled with gunfire. Their occupants, including several children, had died. Taliban positions were pounded by bullets and bombs dropped on their compounds. A day later, as the operation continued, a mine exploded just yards from Grey, killing a British soldier. Who, he wondered in the days that followed, was responsible for the bloodshed? And what purpose did it serve? A compelling story of one military venture that lasted several days, Operation Snakebite draws on Grey's exclusive interviews with everyone from private soldiers to NATO commanders. The result is a thrilling and at times horrifying story of a war which has gone largely unnoticed back home.

The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege

Operation Snakebite

Recounts the dramatic three-day battle for the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala that started on 7 December 2007. With a pre-battle population of fifteen to twenty thousand, Musa Qala was the only significant town held by the Taliban at that time. Attacking against two thousand Taliban fighters, who were heavily dug in after occupying the town for more than nine months, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was spearheaded by Task Force 1 Fury: 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, of the 82nd Airborne Division. For the ISAF Musa Qala was a target of immense importance; the Taliban had to be driven out and the town secured. With months of occupation to get ready, the Taliban were prepared to stand and fight. What resulted was one of the biggest and most terrible battles of the war.

Stephen Grey

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