100 Best Intelligence Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

5.0

Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ev Williams, and 45 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? [source]

2

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Daniel Goleman

4.9

Preview Summary

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds"—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny.

Through vivid examples, Goleman delineates the five crucia

Recommended by Drew Houston, Drew Huston, Magda Marcu, and 4 others.

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

It’s nonfiction, but it spelled out something that I just didn’t know you could kind of break down in a logical way. And, suddenly, I had this understanding about the world that I didn’t have before. [source]

Magda Marcu

One of the most eye opening for me was “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” as it offered a different perspective on leadership, and how empathy can make you a more successful leader. Every person has some degree of empathy and through this book you understand how to apply it more intently. [source]

Robert Kelsey

Yes, that’s the key revelation. But another key element, which was quite revelatory for me when I read it, is about the impact of fear on your brain. The impact of fear as a physiological response was well known when he wrote the book, but what was less well known was the idea of fear as a neurological response. He pointed to research showing what happens to the brain when fear is triggered, and it’s very damaging. There’s a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system, and deals with emotions such as fear and distress. Its main purpose is to alert you to danger and it sends an emergency signal. All those physiological responses you have are basically the body’s response to that emergency signal. That’s what people experience when they experience fear, but it’s not just the fear of a dog barking at you or someone attacking you, it’s fear based on a fear conditioning. These are moments when something happens to you that induces fear or distress, and can include fear of failure or fear of being upset, and the same response occurs. [source]

3

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

4.8

Preview Summary

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their

Recommended by Bill Gates, Charles T. Munger, Charlie Munger, and 18 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Gladwell is not the first person to come up with the 10,000 hour rule. Nor is he the first person to document what it takes to become the best in the world at something. But his stories are so great as he explains these deep concepts. How did the Beatles become the best? Why are professional hockey players born in January, February and March? And so on. [source]

Alex Circei

Question: What five books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path & why? Answer: Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons In Life by Richard Branson Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki [source]

4

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Ray Kurzweil

4.8

Preview Summary

The great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is one of the best-known and controversial advocates for the role of machines in the future of humanity. In his latest, thrilling foray into the future, he envisions an event--thesingularity--in which technological change becomes so rapid and so profound that our bodies and brains will merge with our machines.

The Singularity Is Near portrays what life w

Recommended by Tony Robbins, Anthony Robbins, Brian Armstrong, and 4 others.

Antonio Eram

This book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. [source]

Mark O'Connell

I wouldn’t be the first to look at him this way but I read Kurzweil’s work as essentially a work of religious mysticism. I think there’s no other way to read it, really. [source]

Steve Aoki

It opened me up to the idea of science fiction becoming science fact. [source]

5

The Art of War

Sun Tzu

4.8

Preview Summary

For more than two thousand years, The Art of War has stood as a cornerstone of Chinese culture-a lucid epigrammatic text that reveals as much about human psychology, politics, and economics as it does about battlefield strategy. The influence of Sun-tzu's text has grown tremendously in the West in recent years, with military leaders, politicians, and corporate executives alike finding valuable ins

Recommended by Reid Hoffman, Evan Spiegel, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and 14 others.

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

Reid read Carl von Clausewitz and Sun Tzu as a boy, which informed his strategic thinking. [source]

Evan Spiegel

After meeting Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Spiegel immediately bought every Snapchat employee a copy of 'The Art Of War'. [source]

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Astrophysicist, Author & Science Communicator

Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on planet? … The Art of War (Sun Tsu) to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art. If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world. [source]

6

Neuromancer

William Gibson, Neil Gaiman

4.8

A deluxe hardcover edition of the pioneering cyberpunk novel that predicted our obsession with the Internet—part of Penguin Galaxy, a collectible series of six sci-fi/fantasy classics, featuring a series introduction by Neil Gaiman.

Before the Internet was commonplace, William Gibson showed us the Matrix—a world within the world, the representation of every byte of data in cyberspace. Henry Dorsett

Recommended by Adam Savage, Aleks Krotoski, Burly Vinson, and 3 others.

Adam Savage

This series changed my life. [source]

Aleks Krotoski

This is the seminal cyberpunk book: it’s the thing that the web is based on. [source]

Burly Vinson

As I said, I’m a SciFi nerd, so right now I’m reading Neuromancer by William Gibson. As for what I expect to get from it? Probably not a lot from an entrepreneur point of view, but that’s fine by me. [source]

7

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Nick Bostrom

4.7

Preview Summary

Superintelligence asks the questions: what happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.

The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant posi

Recommended by Elon Musk, Maria Ramos, and Will MacAskill.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes. [source]

Maria Ramos

CEO/Barclays Africa

Ramos will take the summer to examine some of the questions weighing more heavily on humankind as we contemplate our collective future: what happens when we can write our own genetic codes, and what happens when we create technology that is meaningfully more intelligent than us. The Gene: An Intimate History—Siddhartha Mukherjee Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies—Nick Bostrom The Ministry of Utmost Happiness—Arundhati Roy [source]

Will MacAskill

I picked this book because the possibility of us developing human-level artificial intelligence, and from there superintelligence—an artificial agent that is considerably more intelligent than we are—is at least a contender for the most important issue in the next two centuries. Bostrom’s book has been very influential in effective altruism, lots of people work on artificial intelligence in order to ensure that it is developed safely. I don’t agree with the entire contents of the book, but there are many compelling arguments in it. It would be extremely overconfident to dismiss this book as too speculative. In fact, I think there should be a lot more work that tries to understand the biggest challenges for the next two hundred years, and what we could do to try to overcome them. [source]

8

The Art of Intelligence

Henry A. Crumpton

4.7

A legendary CIA spy and counterterrorism expert tells the spellbinding story of his high-risk, action-packed career while illustrating the growing importance of America's intelligence officers and their secret missions

For a crucial period, Henry Crumpton led the CIA's global covert operations against America's terrorist enemies, including al Qaeda. In the days after 9/11, the CIA tasked Crumpton t

9

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Tim Weiner

4.7

For the last sixty years, the CIA has managed to maintain a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, burying its blunders in top-secret archives. Its mission was to know the world. When it did not succeed, it set out to change the world. Its failures have handed us, in the words of President Eisenhower, “a legacy of ashes.”

Now Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tim Weiner offers the first

Recommended by Stephen Glain.

Stephen Glain

Yes. This book reads like the Keystone Kops. It’s amazing how often the CIA just blundered, going from one screw-up to the next, despite having some very intelligent people. But I once listened to Tim Weiner giving an interview and he said something very profound. He said every president since it was created under Truman has abused the CIA. Too often it’s used to prove a presumed fact, a fact that has been created for domestic political purposes, and completely queers the pitch from the outset. If you’re not encouraging conclusions that may differ from your own presumptions then you’re fated to commit the mistakes of so many American presidents and heads of state everywhere. Also, while the CIA got it wrong on the Bay of Pigs, they also got it right sometimes. A perfect example of that is the US plot under Eisenhower to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh, the Iranian prime minister. We’re still living with the legacy of that plot today. There was a station chief in Tehran who disputed John Foster Dulles’s notion that Mosaddegh was a Soviet stooge. He was not. He was neutral. There’s an example of the CIA calling it like it was. Ditto, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger’s war on Chilean president Allende. The CIA was saying, “No, this man is not a proxy of the Soviets. He’s popular, he’s legitimate, and we should not be seen as trying to undermine him.” [source]

10

The Intelligent Investor: The Classic Text on Value Investing

Benjamin Graham

4.6

Preview Summary

The greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing" -- which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies -- has made The Intelligent Investor the stock market bible ever since its original publication in 1949.

Recommended by Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Kevin Rose, and 6 others.

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline. [source]

Kevin Rose

Co-founder/Digg

The foundation for investing. A lot of people have used this as their guide to getting into investment, basic strategies. Actually Warren Buffett cites this as the book that got him into investing and he says that principles he learned here helped him to become a great investor. Highly recommend this book. It’s a great way understand what’s going on and how to evaluate different companies out there before you make an investment. [source]

DJ Vlad

The single biggest influence on how I buy and sell stocks. [source]

11

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.6

Preview Summary

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was.

The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from t

Recommended by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and 18 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

From the book "The Everything Store: and the Age of Amazon" “The scholar argues that people are wired to see patterns in chaos while remaining blind to unpredictable events, with massive consequences. Experimentation and empiricism trumps the easy and obvious narrative,” Stone writes. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

And throw in “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness”. “Fragile” means if you hit something might break. “Resilient” means if you hit something, it will stay the same. On my podcast Nassim discusses “Antifragility” – building a system, even on that works for you on a personal level, where you if you harm your self in some way it becomes stronger. That podcast changed my life He discusses Antifragility throughout history, up to our current economic situation, and even in our personal situations. [source]

12

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

Steve Coll

4.6

The news-breaking book that has sent shockwaves through the Bush White House, Ghost Wars is the most accurate and revealing account yet of the CIA's secret involvement in al-Qaeda's evolution. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll has spent years reporting from the Middle East, accessed previously classified government files and interviewed senior US officials and f

13

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Lawrence Wright

4.6

A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany

Recommended by Audrey Kurth Cronin, Bryan Callen, Lloyd Gardner, and 5 others.

Audrey Kurth Cronin

Reading this one book gives you an excellent grasp of the human story and the context from which al-Qaeda emerged. [source]

Bryan Callen

I love this author. [source]

Lloyd Gardner

Wright looks at the linkage between the Egyptian Jihad and Al-Qaeda. It is a worthwhile book to read to try to understand the whole problem. [source]

14

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War

Ben Macintyre

4.6

The celebrated author of A Spy Among Friends and Rogue Heroes returns with his greatest spy story yet, a thrilling Cold War-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union.

If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of

Recommended by Casey Neistat, Amrullah Saleh, Gady Epstein, and 2 others.

Casey Neistat

Founder/368 Creative Space

just finished this yesterday. absolutely fantastic book. super recommend if you're into spycraft and espionage. bravo @BenMacintyre1 https://t.co/4OG4C1cBQ1 [source]

Amrullah Saleh

I had a great conversation with Ambassador Micheal Lund Jeppesen of @DKinAfghanistan . On the sidelines of our rich conversation we spoke of the Spy & the Traitor a great book in which Denmark's intelligence features highly. Proud of our alliance & cooperation. https://t.co/47GMb7ETWr [source]

Gady Epstein

Think I’ll read a non-China spy story for a change. Have heard great things about this book https://t.co/QcBa0ozRfG [source]

15

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes

4.6

The story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be

Recommended by Irina Botnari.

Irina Botnari

It’s pretty hard to pick only one favorite book because as we get wiser (to be read: get older ☺) our interests change and so do our books, but it’ll stick to the plan. The highlight of this year for me was Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. The idea behind is heartbreaking and completely brilliant, being in the same time so perfect and so horribly disturbing. [source]

16

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

4.5

Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers at

Recommended by Steve Jurvetson, Seth Godin, Cory Zue, and 2 others.

Steve Jurvetson

Steve Jurvetson recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

In the last week, I discovered that at least two of my smart friends hadn't read Godel, Escher, Bach. They have now. You should too. [source]

Cory Zue

More recently books like Godel, Escher, Bach and Sapiens have influenced my thinking a lot. [source]

Cover unavailable

17

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Robert A. Heinlein

4.5

In 2075, the Moon is no longer a penal colony. But it is still a prison...

Life isn't easy for the political dissidents and convicts who live in the scattered colonies that make up lunar civilisation. Everything is regulated strictly, efficiently and cheaply by a central supercomputer, HOLMES IV.

When humble technician Mannie O'Kelly-Davis discovers that HOLMES IV has quietly achieved consciousness

Recommended by Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Orson Scott Card, and 2 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Probably the science fiction book I read the most when I was younger. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Elon Musk recommended this book as one of his favorite books about space. [source]

Orson Scott Card

Author

Robert A Heinlein is, quite seriously, the creator of modern science fiction, in the way that Jane Austen is the creator of the modern novel. [source]

18

The Hunt for Red October (Movie Tie-In)

Tom Clancy

4.5

Don't Miss the Original Series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Starring John Krasinski!

The #1 New York Times bestseller that launched the phenomenal career of Tom Clancy--the gripping military thriller that introduced the world to his unforgettable hero, Jack Ryan.

Somewhere under the freezing Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision. The Red October is heading west. The Americans

Recommended by Lindsay Berra.

Lindsay Berra

I had a great time working out with the #SpecialForces crew from @GhostRecon and @sofletehq in NYC last week! @jonnybernthal even did a drive-by. Fun fact: My dad had me read my first Tom Clancy book, Hunt for Red October, when I was 10. #GhostRecon https://t.co/VgjPCYBRna [source]

19

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner

4.5

Preview Summary

A New York Times Bestseller

An Economist Best Book of 2015

"The most important book on decision making since Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow."
—Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal

Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week’s meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be terrible foreca

Recommended by Vinod Khosla, Vinod Khosla, Julia Galef, and 1 others.

Julia Galef

Has some good advice on how to improve your ability to make accurate predictions. [source]

Sheil Kapadia

Read the book Superforecasting, had a great conversation with @bcmassey and came up with seven ideas for how NFL teams can try to find small edges during the draft process. Would love to hear feedback on this one. https://t.co/PdN1fKCagl [source]

20

On Intelligence: How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines

Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee

4.5

From the inventor of the PalmPilot comes a new and compelling theory of intelligence, brain function, and the future of intelligent machines

Jeff Hawkins, the man who created the PalmPilot, Treo smart phone, and other handheld devices, has reshaped our relationship to computers. Now he stands ready to revolutionize both neuroscience and computing in one stroke, with a new understanding of intellige

Recommended by Ev Williams and Joan Boixados.

Joan Boixados

I’m reading “On intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins. I am really enjoying it. It’s a very specific theory of how our brain learns and makes predictions (the root of our intelligence) explained for average people unfamiliar with the field. It’s also very related to computer science and artificial intelligence since it tried to prove the current approaches to those are flawed. I’m getting a better understanding of how our brain works and how does our behaviour affects our thinking as much as our thinking affects our behaviour. Thus, it’s interesting to connect it with the idea of habits and how we can really benefit from them. [source]

Cover unavailable

21

Out of My Mind

Sharon M. Draper

4.5

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melod

22

Permanent Record

Edward Snowden

4.5

Preview Summary

Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.

In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United St

Recommended by John Sargent and Kara Swisher.

John Sargent

CEO/Macmillan Publishers USA

Edward Snowden decided at the age of 29 to give up his entire future for the good of his country. He displayed enormous courage in doing so, and like him or not, his is an incredible American story. There is no doubt that the world is a better and more private place for his actions. Macmillan is enormously proud to publish Permanent Record. [source]

Kara Swisher

Btw @Snowden new book “Permanent Record” is quite good and surprisingly a love letter to the Internet as it was. [source]

23

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Yuval Noah Harari

4.5

Preview Summary

Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.

Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to acce

Recommended by Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Naval Ravikant, and 15 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Harari’s new book is as challenging and readable as Sapiens. Rather than looking back, as Sapiens does, it looks to the future. I don’t agree with everything the author has to say, but he has written a thoughtful look at what may be in store for humanity. [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a big reader of paleontology or anthropology – not good words for us dyslexics! – but I enjoy learning about how society has unfolded and history has developed in an exciting, easy to read way. The sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, is a fascinating look into the future too. While these aren’t traditional business or leadership books, they are all about people – and learning how to work with, live with, interact with people and get the best out of them is what leadership is all about. [source]

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Not that I agree with all of it, but it is still mind-bending speculation about our future as a follow-up to a previous favorite, Sapiens. It’s directionally right. [source]

24

Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner

4.5

Preview Summary

A revolutionary challenge to the widely held notion that intelligence is a single general capacity possessed by every individual to a greater or lesser extent. Gardner's trailblazing book revolutionized the worlds of education and psychology by positing that rather than a single type of intelligence, we have several--most of which are neglected by standard testing and educational methods.

More than

Recommended by Charles Koch.

Cover unavailable

25

Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig

4.5

For one or two-semester, undergraduate or graduate-level courses in Artificial Intelligence. The long-anticipated revision of this best-selling text offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to the theory and practice of artificial intelligence. *NEW-Nontechnical learning material-Accompanies each part of the book. *NEW-The Internet as a sample application for intelligent systems-Adde

26

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

4.4

Preview Summary

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a bo

Recommended by Ev Williams, Mike Shinoda, Marillyn Hewson, and 4 others.

Mike Shinoda

I know most of the guys in the band read this book. [source]

Marillyn Hewson

CEO/Lockheed Martin

CEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. [source]

Antonio Eram

When asked to name some books that had a big impact on him, Antonio mentioned Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. [source]

27

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Max Tegmark

4.4

Preview Summary

How will Artificial Intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology--and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

How can we grow our prosperity th

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and 2 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Anyone who wants to discuss how artificial intelligence is shaping the world should read this book. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

A compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life, intelligence and consciousness—on Earth and beyond. [source]

Cover unavailable

28

The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West

Christopher M. Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin

4.4

'One of the biggest intelligence coups in recent years' The Times

For years KGB operative Vasili Mitrokhin risked his life hiding top-secret material from Russian secret service archives beneath his family dacha. When he was exfiltrated to the West he took with him what the FBI called 'the most complete and extensive intelligence ever received from any source'. This extraordinary bestselling book i

Recommended by Rory Cormac.

Rory Cormac

I wanted my book choices to reflect that all different states are up to this stuff. This is a really, really important book, with a very fascinating story of how it came about. It’s based on top-secret KGB foreign intelligence archives which, along with the archivist, Mitrokhin, were smuggled out of Russia in 1992 by MI6. Mitrokhin collaborated with perhaps the world’s most preeminent intelligence historian, Christopher Andrew of Cambridge, to write this book exposing and blowing the lid on Soviet covert action and intelligence more broadly throughout the Cold War. It’s a landmark book because it shows us the scope and the global reach of what they were doing. There were operations such as trying to discredit the long-time FBI director J Edgar Hoover by smearing him as a predatory homosexual. There were operations to try and discredit Martin Luther King because the Soviets wanted to try to stoke up a race war. There were also revelations about secret stores of arms dumped inside the US and the UK, ready for Soviet agents to use for sabotage. From a contemporary perspective, it tells us that all this talk about Russian covert action against the United States is nothing new. Russia has been trying to manipulate American elections for a long time. And this book is really important in helping us understand the historical context behind Russian covert action and provides insights into what we’re seeing today. I think it’s really dangerous to only think about covert action through a contemporary lens. This activity has been going on for a very long time. There’s nothing new about what we’re reading in the news at the moment. [source]

29

Psychology of Intelligence Analysis

Richards J. Heuer Jr., Scott R. Pollak, et al

4.4

With intelligence now getting a front-row seat in governments around the world, this book is especially timely. Intelligence rains in, but without an understanding of the nature of the intelligence, it accumulates in puddles of obscurity. The problems therefore seem to be how to obtain it, how to understand it, and how to sell it to one's bosses. This book deals with how to understand it. Three fu

Cover unavailable

30

Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan, #5)

Tom Clancy

4.4

Colombian drug lords, bored with Uncle Sam's hectoring, assassinate the head of the FBI. The message is clear: Bug off!
At what point do these druggies threaten national security? When can a nation act against its enemies? These are questions Jack Ryan must answer because someone has quietly stepped over the line.
Does anyone know who the real enemy is? How much action is too much? Which lines have

31

Digital Fortress

Dan Brow

4.3

When the National Security Agency's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage... not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would c

32

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

Brian Christian and Griffiths

4.3

Preview Summary

A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we

Recommended by Doug McMillon, Chris Oliver, Emi Gal, and 2 others.

Doug McMillon

CEO/Walmart

Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. [source]

Chris Oliver

This is a great book talking about how you can use computer science to help you make decisions in life. How do you know when to make a decision on the perfect house? Car? etc? It helps you apply algorithms to making those decisions optimally without getting lost. [source]

Emi Gal

When asked what books he would recommend to young people interested in his career path, mentioned Algorithms to Live By. [source]

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33

Open Source Intelligence Techniques: Resources for Searching and Analyzing Online Information

Michael Bazzell

4.3

Completely Rewritten Sixth Edition Sheds New Light on Open Source Intelligence Collection and Analysis Author Michael Bazzell has been well known in government circles for his ability to locate personal information about any target through Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). In this book, he shares his methods in great detail. Each step of his process is explained throughout twenty-five chapters of

34

Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception

Philip Houston

4.3

Preview Summary

Three former CIA officers--among the world's foremost authorities on recognizing deceptive behavior--share their proven techniques for uncovering a lie

Imagine how different your life would be if you could tell whether someone was lying or telling you the truth. Be it hiring a new employee, investing in a financial interest, speaking with your child about drugs, confronting your significant other a

Recommended by Bogdan Savonea.

Bogdan Savonea

"What five books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path & why? ""Spy the lie"" by Philip Houston and Michael Floyd and ""The subtle art of not giving a f*ck"" + ""Everything is f*cked"" by Mark Manson. I'd leave the remaining 2 books to their spirit of discovery." [source]

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35

The Sum of All Fears (Jack Ryan, #6)

Tom Clancy

4.3

How do you save the United States President from himself? What if the President is incompetent to deal with the greatest crisis of all? Jack Ryan never thought he would have to ask those questions as, the world order changing, he prepares the ground for the Middle Eastern peace plan that, at last, might be the one to work.

But too many groups have invested too much blood. Shunned by their erstwhile

36

Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage

Sherry Sontag

4.3

Originally published in 1998 and a best seller in its hardcover and paperback publications, Blind Man's Bulffis a dramatic, and riveting history. Over the course of five years, investigative reporters Sherry Sontag and Chris Drew interviewed hundreds of men who had never spoken about their underwater lives—not even to their wives and children. They uncovered a wealth of classified information: the

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37

Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda

John Keegan

4.3

In fiction, the spy is a glamorous figure whose secrets make or break peace, but, historically, has intelligence really been a vital step to military victories? In this breakthrough study, the preeminent war historian John Keegan goes to the heart of a series of important conflicts to develop a powerful argument about military intelligence.
In his characteristically wry and perceptive prose, Keega

38

Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations

Ronen Bergman

4.2

The first definitive history of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and the IDF’s targeted killing programs, from the man hailed by David Remnick as “arguably [Israel’s] best investigative reporter”

The Talmud says: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel’s DNA. From the very b

Recommended by Noah Kagan and Rory Cormac.

Noah Kagan

Founder/Sumo

I’m shocked this book was released. It shares unbelievable stories about Israel secret intelligence and perseverance. [source]

Rory Cormac

In stark contrast to some of the other books which were written by insiders, this book is 100 per cent unofficial and unauthorised. It’s written by a journalist, albeit a journalist with a history PhD. It’s based on interviews and documents that he’s been given over the years. It’s the kind of story that the Israelis didn’t want telling and, in fact, tried to prevent the book from being published. [source]

39

The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA

Joby Warrick

4.2

A stunning narrative account of the mysterious Jordanian who penetrated both the inner circle of al-Qaeda and the highest reaches of the CIA, with a devastating impact on the war on terror.

In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upp

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40

No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State

Glenn Greenwald

4.2

By Glenn Greenwald, star of Citizenfour, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Edward Snowden

In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the twenty-nine-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowde

Recommended by Gilbert Rwabigwi.

Gilbert Rwabigwi

Your book, “No Place To Hide”, was a thrilling/insightful read. Can’t wait to flip through @Snowden’s memoir. 🙏🏾 https://t.co/pZPLxDpNcM [source]

41

Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

Carl Sagan

4.2

Dr Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offering his vivid and startling insights into the brains of humans & beasts, the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most haunting legends and their amazing links to recent discoveries.

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42

See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism

Robert Baer

4.2

In his explosive New York Times bestseller, top CIA operative Robert Baer paints a chilling picture of how terrorism works on the inside and provides startling evidence of how Washington politics sabotaged the CIA’s efforts to root out the world’s deadliest terrorists, allowing for the rise of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the continued entrenchment of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

A veteran case offi

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43

Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence

James R. Clapper, Trey Brown

4.2

The former Director of National Intelligence speaks out

When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth United States Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper had been President Obama's senior intelligence advisor for six and a half years, a period that included such critical events as the discovery of Osama bin Laden, the leaks of Edward Snowden, the Benghazi attack, and Russia's influe

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44

The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon, #10)

Daniel Silva

4.2

Two families, one terrible secret, and a painting to die for ...

Determined to sever his ties with the Office, Gabriel Allon has retreated to the windswept cliffs of Cornwall with his beautiful Venetian-born wife Chiara. But once again his seclusion is interrupted by a visitor from his tangled past: the endearingly eccentric London art dealer, Julian Isherwood. As usual, Isherwood has a problem

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45

Prey

Michael Crichton

4.2

In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles -- micro-robots -- has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive.

It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour.

Every attempt to d

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46

Intelligence Analysis: A Target-Centric Approach

Robert M. Clark

4.2

Now in its SixthEdition, Robert M. Clark's Intelligence Analysis: A Target-Centric Approach once again delivers a consistent, clear method for teaching intelligence analysis--demonstrating how a collaborative, target-centric approach leads to sharper and more effective analysis. This bestseller also includes new end-of-chapter questions to spark classroom discussion, as well as material on the int

47

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed

Ben R. Rich

4.2

From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind the high-stakes quest to dominate the skies Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret & successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of cold war confrontations and Gul

Recommended by Chris Anderson, Chris Anderson, Chris Anderson, and 2 others.

Chris Anderson

@elidourado @pmarcas_likes What broke was our risk tolerance. The "Skunkworks" book is a great insider story of that. The day that the financial auditors outnumbered the engineers was the day the innovation died: https://t.co/ncrsulEZyC [source]

Chris Anderson

@elidourado @pmarcas_likes What broke was our risk tolerance. The "Skunkworks" book is a great insider story of that. The day that the financial auditors outnumbered the engineers was the day the innovation died: https://t.co/ncrsulEZyC [source]

Chris Anderson

@elidourado @pmarcas_likes What broke was our risk tolerance. The "Skunkworks" book is a great insider story of that. The day that the financial auditors outnumbered the engineers was the day the innovation died: https://t.co/ncrsulEZyC [source]

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48

Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda

Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, Henry R. Schlesinger

4.2

From two men who know better than anyone how espionage really works, an unprecedented historyaheavily illustrated with neverbefore- seen imagesaof the CIAas most secretive operations and the gadgets that made them possible. It is a world where the intrigue of reality exceeds that of fiction. What is an invisible photo used for? What does it take to build a quiet helicopter? How does one embed a li

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49

The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Jack Ryan, #4)

Tom Clancy

4.2

In a rolling sea off the coast of South America, a target disappears in a puff of green light. In the Soviet hills of Dushanbe near the Afghanistan border, an otherworldly array of pillars and domes rises into the night. To the two greatest nations on earth, no contest is more urgent than the race to build the first Star Wars missile defense system, and no one knows that more than the two men char

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50

The Craft of Intelligence: America's Legendary Spy Master on the Fundamentals of Intelligence Gathering for a Free World

Allen W. Dulles

4.2

If the experts could point to any single book as a source for understanding twentieth-century intelligence, that book would be Allen W. Dulles's The Craft of Intelligence. This classic of spycraft is based on Dulles's incomparable experience as a diplomat, international lawyer, and America's premier intelligence officer. Dulles was a high-ranking officer of the CIA's predecessor - the Office of St

51

The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal

David E. Hoffman

4.2

From the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning history The Dead Hand comes the riveting story of a spy who cracked open the Soviet military research establishment and a penetrating portrait of the CIA’s Moscow station, an outpost of daring espionage in the last years of the Cold War

While driving out of the American embassy in Moscow on the evening of February 16, 1978, the chief of the CIA’s Mosco

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52

Pattern Recognition (Blue Ant, #1)

William Gibson

4.2

Cayce Pollard is an expensive, spookily intuitive market-research consultant. In London on a job, she is offered a secret assignment: to investigate some intriguing snippets of video that have been appearing on the Internet. An entire subculture of people is obsessed with these bits of footage, and anybody who can create that kind of brand loyalty would be a gold mine for Cayce's client. But when

Recommended by Seth Godin.

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

Novels: The Windup Girl and Pattern Recognition are chock full of images and ideas that will stick with you for months. [source]

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53

The Assault on Intelligence: American National Security in an Age of Lies

Michael V. Hayden

4.2

54

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Timothy Snyder

4.2

Americans call the Second World War “The Good War.” But before it even began, America’s wartime ally Josef Stalin had killed millions of his own citizens—and kept killing them during and after the war. Before Hitler was finally defeated, he had murdered six million Jews and nearly as many other Europeans. At war’s end, both the German and the Soviet killing sites fell behind the iron curtain, leav

Recommended by Eric Weinstein, Antony Beevor, Edward Lucas, and 1 others.

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Antony Beevor

This book is about…the Stalinist repression of the areas known as the borderlands, which Snyder has termed the bloodlands. Snyder is looking at the deliberate mass murder of civilians in a particular zone of Europe between about 1930, at the start of the second Ukraine famine, and 1945. [source]

Edward Lucas

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin offers the best account of the most important and terrible years of the last century, when Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler jointly consigned the territories and people between their two empires to the meat-grinder. [source]

55

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

Ben Macintyre

4.2

Master storyteller Ben Macintyre’s most ambitious work to date brings to life the twentieth century’s greatest spy story.

Kim Philby was the greatest spy in history, a brilliant and charming man who rose to head Britain’s counterintelligence against the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War—while he was secretly working for the enemy. And nobody thought he knew Philby like Nicholas Elliott

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56

The Puzzle Palace: Inside the National Security Agency, America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization

James Bamford

4.2

In this remarkable tour de force of investigative reporting, James Bamford exposes the inner workings of America's largest, most secretive, and arguably most intrusive intelligence agency. The NSA has long eluded public scrutiny, but The Puzzle Palace penetrates its vast network of power and unmasks the people who control it, often with shocking disregard for the law. With detailed information on

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57

From Russia with Love (James Bond, #5)

Ian Fleming

4.2

James Bond is marked for death by the Soviet counterintelligence agency SMERSH in Ian Fleming’s masterful spy thriller, and the novel that President John F. Kennedy named one of his favorite books of all time.

SMERSH stands for “Death to Spies” and there’s no secret agent they’d like to disgrace and destroy more than 007, James Bond. But ensnaring the British Secret Service’s most lethal operative

Recommended by James Twining, Keith Jeffery, and Pete Winner.

James Twining

You’d have to struggle to look at literary fiction over the past 50 years and come up with a character who has really inhabited the popular consciousness. [source]

Keith Jeffery

Although Bond gets wounded or into trouble, he always manages to come out on top in the end. [source]

Pete Winner

Well, this is all about the Cold War. It is a similar story to what Gaz Hunter was into – going across the East German border, lurking around, possibly getting captured and tortured by the Russians. [source]

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58

Most Secret War

R. V. Jones

4.2

Reginald Jones was nothing less than a genius. And his appointment to the Intelligence Section of Britain's Air Ministry in 1939 led to some of the most astonishing scientific and technological breakthroughs of the Second World War.

In Most Secret War he details how Britain stealthily stole the war from under the Germans' noses by outsmarting their intelligence at every turn. He tells of the 'battl

Recommended by Michael Goodman.

Michael Goodman

The First World War was the chemists’ war and WWII was the physicists’ war. Jones was a scientist in Oxford doing his PhD and was interested in looking at infra red, which became very important for night bombing missions. They were all looking at what the Germans were doing and what counter-measures could be taken, how you could foil them. Science is very important in warfare, of course, and James persuaded the government that it could pose a serious threat. This book is his memoir and recounts how he created a scientific intelligence system. [source]

59

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

John le Carré

4.1

In this classic, John le Carre's third novel and the first to earn him international acclaim, he created a world unlike any previously experienced in suspense fiction. With unsurpassed knowledge culled from his years in British Intelligence, le Carre brings to light the shadowy dealings of international espionage in the tale of a British agent who longs to end his career but undertakes one final,

Recommended by Ben Macintyre, Keith Jeffery, and Nick Harkaway.

Ben Macintyre

I think it sets the standard for all spy literature. It’s very hard to improve on The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It’s the classic le Carré recipe of compromised individuals trying to find their way through a labyrinth of deception and self-deception [source]

Keith Jeffery

This is at the far end of the spectrum from James Bond, but it also says a lot about the bureaucracy of the Service. [source]

Nick Harkaway

It runs on rails from its inception to a point of crisis from which there is no return. And it’s really beautifully and brilliantly executed in its inevitability. It’s totally bleak, yet at the same time there is a feather of victory in it as well. It’s a really extraordinary book. [source]

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60

Extreme Measures (Mitch Rapp, #11)

Vince Flynn

4.1

The latest pulse-pounding thriller by #1 "New York Times" bestselling phenomenon Vince Flynn explodes onto the scene with a deadly and charismatic hero fans will cheer for all the way to the last riveting page.Vince Flynn's thrillers, featuring counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp, have dominated the imagination of readers everywhere. Time and again, Flynn has captured the secretive world of the

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61

2001: A Space Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke, Neil Gaiman

4.1

A deluxe hardcover edition of the wondrous space adventure that is the basis for Stanley Kubrick's Oscar-winning film--now celebrating its 50th anniversary

Part of Penguin Galaxy, a collectible series of six sci-fi/fantasy classics, featuring a series introduction by Neil Gaiman

Winner of the AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books - 50 Covers competition

Written when landing on the moon was still a dream,

Recommended by Bertalan Meskó and Laurie Voss.

Bertalan Meskó

Preparing for my opening keynote, Science Fiction in Healthcare, at #futurelink18 this morning. Please get your tweets ready and challenge me about what the best sci-fi movie or book is. Ever. My vote is for 2001: A Space Odyssey. #digitalhealth [source]

Laurie Voss

2001 the *book* has a great plot and if you've read the book it's clear what's happening but if you haven't read the book the movie is impenetrable, and the movie should not get a pass just because an Explainer Guide was published at the same time. [source]

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62

Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency from the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century

James Bamford

4.1

The National Security Agency is the world’s most powerful, most far-reaching espionage. Now with a new afterword describing the security lapses that preceded the attacks of September 11, 2001, Body of Secrets takes us to the inner sanctum of America’s spy world. In the follow-up to his bestselling Puzzle Palace, James Banford reveals the NSA’s hidden role in the most volatile world events of the p

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63

Consent to Kill (Mitch Rapp, #8)

Vince Flynn

4.1

For years, Mitch Rapp's bold actions have saved the lives of countless Americans. He has killed with impunity, tortured to avert disaster, and shown he will do whatever it takes to prevent terrorists from fulfilling their bloody wishes. His battles for peace and freedom have made him a hero to many, and an enemy to countless more. In the tangled, duplicitous world of espionage, there are those, ev

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64

Debt of Honor (Jack Ryan, #7)

Tom Clancy

4.1

Razio Yamata is one of Japan's most influential industrialists, and part of a relatively small group of authority who wield tremendous authority in the Pacific Rim's economic powerhouse.

He has devised a plan to cripple the American greatness, humble the US military, and elevate Japan to a position of dominance on the world stage.

Yamata's motivation lies in his desire to pay off aDebt of Honor to h

65

The Cuckoo's Egg

Cliff Stoll

4.1

Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive U.S. citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective sto

Recommended by James Stanley and Rick Klau.

James Stanley

"The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll is another great book. I believe it's the first documented account of a computer being misused by a remote attacker. It talks about how Clifford attached physical teleprinters to the incoming phone lines so that he could see what the attacker was actually doing on the computer, and how he traced the attacker across several countries. [source]

Rick Klau

@AtulAcharya @stevesi Same. Read it in college, realized I was more excited about the tech than what I was studying -- and Cliff did such a great job helping you understand what was going on. Such a great book. [source]

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66

Protect and Defend (Mitch Rapp, #10)

Vince Flynn

4.1

"New York Times" bestselling author Vince Flynn returns with his most explosive political thriller yet. A tour de force of action-packed suspense, "Protect and Defend" delivers an all-too-realistic and utterly compelling vision of nations navigating the minefield of international intrigue. A true "heavyweight in the political thriller arena" ("Minneapolis Star Tribune"), Vince Flynn has created a

67

The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5

Christopher Andrew

4.1

This book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counter-espionage and counter-terrorism.

Recommended by Ben Macintyre.

Ben Macintyre

It’s an authorised, not an official, history, which means that it’s authorised to the extent that Andrew was allowed access to all 400,000 MI5 files. [source]

68

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

Tom O'Neill

4.1

69

All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

Stephen Kinzer

4.1

An American Coup & the Roots of Middle East Terror
Half a century ago, the United States overthrew a Middle Eastern government for the first time. The victim was Mohammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran. Although the coup seemed a success at first, today it serves as a chilling lesson about the dangers of foreign intervention.In this book, veteran New York Times correspondent Stephen Kinzer gives the first full account of this fateful operation. His account is centered around an hour-by-hour reconstruction of the events of August 1953, and concludes with an assessment of the coup's "haunting and terrible legacy."Operation Ajax, as the plot was code-named, reshaped the history of Iran, the Middle East, and the world. It restored Mohammad Reza Shah to the Peacock Throne, allowing him to impose a tyranny that ultimately sparked the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The Islamic Revolution, in turn, inspired fundamentalists throughout the Muslim world, including the Taliban and terrorists who thrived under its protection."It is not far-fetched," Kinzer asserts in this book, "to draw a line from Operation Ajax through the Shah's repressive regime and the Islamic Revolution to the fireballs that engulfed the World Trade Center in New York."Drawing on research in the United States and Iran, and using material from a long-secret CIA report, Kinzer explains the background of the coup and tells how it was carried out. It is a cloak-and-dagger story of spies, saboteurs, and secret agents. There are accounts of bribes, staged riots, suitcases full of cash, and midnight meetings between the Shah and CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt, who was smuggled in and out of the royal palace under a blanket in the back seat of a car. Roosevelt,the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, was a real-life James Bond in an era when CIA agents operated mainly by their wits. After his first coup attempt failed, he organized a second attempt that succeeded three days later.The colorful cast of characters includes the terrified young Shah, who fled his country at the first sign of trouble; General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, father of the Gulf War commander and the radio voice of "Gang Busters," who flew to Tehran on a secret mission that helped set the coup in motion; and the fiery Prime Minister Mossadegh, who outraged the West by nationalizing the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The British, outraged by the seizure of their oil company, persuaded President Dwight Eisenhower that Mossadegh was leading Iran toward Communism. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain became the coup's main sponsors.Brimming with insights into Middle Eastern history and American foreign policy, this book is an eye-opening look at an event whose unintended consequences--Islamic revolution and violent anti-Americanism--have shaped the modern world. As the United States assumes an ever-widening role in the Middle East, it is essential reading.

Recommended by Chris Abbott and Demetri Sevastopulo.

Chris Abbott

Kinzer gives a good and quick introduction to Iranian history and its relationships with America and Britain. [source]

Demetri Sevastopulo

On a totally different topic, this book by @stephenkinzer is a great look at US & UK relations with #Iran before the revolution. Lots of interesting similarities with the situation today. https://t.co/rlv8Ip0Kjn https://t.co/gz7InQkMk4 [source]

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70

First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan

Gary Schroen

4.1

While America held its breath in the days immediately following 9/11, a small but determined group of CIA agents covertly began to change history. This is the riveting first-person account of the treacherous top-secret mission inside Afghanistan to set the stage for the defeat of the Taliban and launch the war on terror.

As thrilling as any novel, First In is a uniquely intimate look at a mission

71

The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age

David E. Sanger

4.1

From the premiere New York Times Washington correspondent, a stunning and incisive look into how cyberwarfare is influencing elections, threatening national security, and bringing us to the brink of global war.

Behind the Russian cyberattacks that may have thrown the 2016 election; behind the Sony hack; behind mysterious power outages around the world and the disappearance of thousands of personn

Recommended by Bill Gates.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2018. [source]

72

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

Sonia Purnell

4.1

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her."

The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines

Recommended by Elizabeth Taylor.

Elizabeth Taylor

During these challenging times, tales of resistance in World War II have found a receptive audience. In the case of Sonia Purnell’s biography, Americans are keen to read about our own countryman’s heroism.At the center of Purnell’s biography is socialite Virginia Hall of Baltimore, Maryland who had been shut out of the American diplomatic corps in the 1930s and stuck as a clerk in the State Department. Raised in affluence, she had learned to ride a horse, shoot, sail and cycle. An adventurous sort, she lost her leg below the knee in a hunting accident in Turkey. (True story: she shot herself in the foot.)After the Nazis invaded France, Hall got herself there to drive ambulances which she did with her prosthetic leg, known then as a ‘peg leg’ which she named Cuthbert. Fluent in French and knowledgeable about the terrain, Hall talked her way into the Office of Strategic Services, and eventually ran spy networks and supervised air drops of weapons. She was known as ‘Madonna of the Mountains.’Purnell recounts Hall’s spy operations so vividly that it feels like one is reading a spy novel. As Purnell’s title suggests, Hall was often underestimated and overlooked. In rescuing Virginia Hall from obscurity, the book also tells a great story about the Resistance. [source]

73

American Assassin (Mitch Rapp, #1)

Vince Flynn

4.1

Mitch Rapp is a gifted college athlete who just wants retribution for the Pan Am Lockerbie attack. He trains six months intensely with other clandestine operatives, under CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield and protégé Irene Kennedy, to stop terrorists before they reach America. The assassin leaves a trail of bodies from Istanbul across Europe to Beirut, where he needs every ounce of skill a

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74

Memorial Day (Mitch Rapp, #7)

Vince Flynn

4.1

Fighting terrorism on foreign ground, CIA superagent Mitch Rapp does whatever it takes to protect American freedom.
CIA intelligence has pointed to a major terrorist attack on the United States, just as the nation's capital prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute to the veterans of World War II. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a commando raid on an al Queda stronghold in a remote border v

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75

The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth

Mark Mazzetti

4.1

The most momentous change in American warfare over the past decade has taken place away from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, in the corners of the world where large armies can’t go. The Way of the Knife is the untold story of that shadow war: a campaign that has blurred the lines between soldiers and spies and lowered the bar for waging war across the globe. America has pursued its enemi

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76

Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

Ben Macintyre

4.1

Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside the villain was a hero. The problem for Chapman, his spymasters, and his lovers was to know where one persona ended and the other began.

In 1941, after training as a German spy in occupied France, Chapman

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77

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

John le Carre

4.1

A modern classic in which John le Carré expertly creates a total vision of a secret world, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy begins George Smiley's chess match of wills and wits with Karla, his Soviet counterpart.

It is now beyond a doubt that a mole, implanted decades ago by Moscow Centre, has burrowed his way into the highest echelons of British Intelligence. His treachery has already blown some of i

Recommended by Andy Beckett, Robert Baer, and Sam Bourne.

Andy Beckett

I find the darkness in le Carré particularly interesting because it’s quite melancholic. It evokes a sadness about Britain and the establishment at that time. There’s a sense of the world closing in. He really captures that in the book. [source]

Robert Baer

Le Carré has the ability to add drama and colour. For classic espionage in a little town in Germany, you can’t do better than le Carré. [source]

Sam Bourne

This is an example of the meticulously supreme thriller. John le Carré really is the master of the form, and any list of thrillers has to include that book. It’s a very emboldening book for thriller writers, because it teaches you not to underestimate the understanding of your reader. They can be pushed and pushed. It is an incredibly intricate plot and yet, if you write it well enough, as he does, readers will stay with you. [source]

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78

Red Rabbit (Jack Ryan, #2)

Tom Clancy

4.1

Long before he was President or head of the CIA, before he fought terrorist attacks on the Super Bowl or the White House, even before a submarine named Red October made its perilous way across the Atlantic, Jack Ryan was an historian, teacher, and recent ex-Marine temporarily living in England while researching a book. A series of deadly encounters with an IRA splinter group had brought him to the

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79

Surface Detail (Culture #9)

Iain M. Banks

4.1

It begins in the realm of the Real, where matter still matters. It begins with a murder. It will not end until the Culture has gone to war with death itself. Lededje Y'breq is one of the Intagliated, her marked body bearing witness to a family shame, her life belonging to a man whose lust for power is without limit. Prepared to risk everything for her freedom, her release, when it comes, is at a p

Recommended by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

I recommend all of Banks' books. Especially this book. [source]

80

The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies

Jason Fagone

4.1

Joining the ranks of Hidden Figures and In the Garden of Beasts, the incredible true story of the greatest codebreaking duo that ever lived, an American woman and her husband who invented the modern science of cryptology together and used it to confront the evils of their time, solving puzzles that unmasked Nazi spies and helped win World War II

In 1916, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shak

81

The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

Vincent Bevins

4.0

A hidden history of CIA activities in Indonesia and Latin America---no less violent or consequential than other, prominent Cold War disasters, but widely overlooked for one important reason: here the CIA was successful.

During the Cold War, the U.S. effort to contain communism resulted in several disgraceful and disastrous conflicts: Vietnam, Cuba, Korea. But other conflicts in Indonesia, Brazil,

82

Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History Of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, And Assassins

Annie Jacobsen

4.0

83

Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory

Ben Macintyre

4.0

In 1943, from a windowless London basement office, two intelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple & complicated—Operation Mincemeat. Purpose? To deceive the Nazis into thinking the Allies were planning to attack Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as the Nazis had assumed & the Allies ultimately chose. Charles Cholmondeley of MI5 & the British naval intelligen

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84

The Awakening of Intelligence

Jiddu Krishnamurti

4.0

This comprehensive record of Krishnamurti’s teachings is an excellent, wide-ranging introduction to the great philosopher’s thought. With among others, Jacob Needleman, Alain Naude, and Swami Venkatasananda, Krishnamurti examines such issues as the role of the teacher and tradition; the need for awareness of ‘cosmic consciousness; the problem of good and evil; and traditional Vedanta methods of he

Recommended by Dave Elitch.

Dave Elitch

Dave Elitch recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

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85

Structured Analytic Techniques For Intelligence Analysis

Richards J. Heuer Jr., Randolph H. Pherson

4.0

Richards J. Heuer Jr. and Randolph H. Pherson turn a lifetime of expertise toward formalizing, adapting, and standardizing a set of 50 of the most robust analytic techniques in use in intelligence analysis today. This ready reference showcases current and cutting-edge best practices and represents a significant leap forward in depth, detail, and utility from existing handbooks.

Logically organized

86

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of our Times

George Crile

4.0

Charlie Wilson's War was a publishing sensation and a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller. In the early 1980s, a Houston socialite turned the attention of maverick Texas congressman Charlie Wilson to the ragged band of Afghan "freedom fighters" who continued, despite overwhelming odds, to fight the Soviet invaders. Wilson, who sat on the all-powerful House Appropriati

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87

Calm Before the Storm

Dave Hayes

4.0

Are we living under a two-tiered system of justice?

Why do the wealthy and powerful escape prosecution for their crimes?

Using wit, wisdom, and gravity, an unknown intelligence insider known as "Q" has been communicating with anonymous citizens on message boards since 2017.

Q says corruption is worse than we know. It has invaded the corporate world, the media, academia, Hollywood, the church and othe

88

Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat

Giles Milton

4.0

Six gentlemen, one goal: the destruction of Hitler's war machine

In the spring of 1939, a top-secret organization was founded in London: its purpose was to plot the destruction of Hitler's war machine through spectacular acts of sabotage.

The guerrilla campaign that followed was every bit as extraordinary as the six men who directed it. One of them, Cecil Clarke, was a maverick engineer who had sp

89

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

Kim Zetter

4.0

Top cybersecurity journalist Kim Zetter tells the story behind the virus that sabotaged Iran’s nuclear efforts and shows how its existence has ushered in a new age of warfare—one in which a digital attack can have the same destructive capability as a megaton bomb.

In January 2010, inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency noticed that centrifuges at an Iranian uranium enrichment plan

Recommended by Josephine Wolff.

Josephine Wolff

As a book, Countdown to Day Zero is a stunning example of a case study, of really diving into a cyber security incident. She takes on the very technical material—getting into the malware and the question of how do these SCADA machines work and how does this piece of software compromise them—but then also brings in this really rich and complicated geopolitical conflict that this is happening as a part of. [source]

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90

Spook Country (Blue Ant, #2)

William Gibson

4.0

Tito is in his early twenties. Born in Cuba, he speaks fluent Russian, lives in one room in a NoLita warehouse, and does delicate jobs involving information transfer.

Hollis Henry is an investigative journalist, on assignment from a magazine called Node. Node doesn't exist yet, which is fine; she's used to that. But it seems to be actively blocking the kind of buzz that magazines normally cultivat

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91

Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

Michael V. Hayden

4.0

An unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars, from the only person ever to helm both CIA and NSA, at a time of heinous new threats and wrenching change

For General Michael Hayden, playing to the edge means playing so close to the line that you get chalk dust on your cleats. Otherwise, by playing back, you may protect yourself, but you will be less successful in prote

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92

Moonraker (James Bond, #3)

Ian Fleming

4.0

‘For several minutes he stood speechless, his eyes dazzled by the terrible beauty of the greatest weapon on earth’

He’s a self-made millionaire, head of the Moonraker rocket programme and loved by the press. So why is Sir Hugo Drax cheating at cards? Bond has just five days to uncover the sinister truth behind a national hero, in Ian Fleming’s third 007 adventure.

93

Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War

Fred Kaplan

4.0

“An important, disturbing, and gripping history” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), the never-before-told story of the computer scientists and the NSA, Pentagon, and White House policymakers who invent and employ cyber wars—where every country can be a major power player and every hacker a mass destroyer.

In June 1983, President Reagan watched the movie War Games, in which a teenager unwittingly hac

Recommended by Josephine Wolff.

Josephine Wolff

This book is by Fred Kaplan and it’s a historical study of the ways that governments—and in particular the US government—have tried to think about and use cyberpower for state-to-state conflict. He looks at what the origins of that were in the 1980s and how it has evolved over the past 30 or so years. [source]

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94

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (James Bond, #11)

Ian Fleming

4.0

A Lancia Spyder with its hood down tore past him, cut in cheekily across his bonnet and pulled away, the sexy boom of its twin exhausts echoing back at him. It was a girl driving, a girl with a shocking pink scarf tied round her hair. And if there was one thing that set James Bond really moving, it was being passed at speed by a pretty girl.

When Bond rescues a beautiful, reckless girl from self-de

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95

Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy

Mark M. Lowenthal

4.0

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96

The Whole Truth

David Baldacci

4.0

A powerful defense contractor, a reluctant intelligence agent, and an ambitious journalist race to contain and control an international crisis that could destroy the world in this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller.

"Dick, I need a war."

Nicolas Creel is a man on a mission. He heads up the world's largest defense contractor, The Ares Corporation. Dick Pender is the man Creel retains to "percept

97

The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government

David Talbot

4.0

An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful—and secretive—colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times bestseller Brothers

America’s greatest untold story: the United States’ rise to world dominance under the guile of Allen Welsh Dulles, the longest-serving director of the CIA. Drawing on re

98

Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service

Michael Bar-Zohar

4.0

The Mossad is widely recognized today as the best intelligence service in the world. It is also the most enigmatic, shrouded in secrecy. Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service unveils the defi ning and most dangerous operations that have shaped Israel and the world at large from the agency's more than sixty-year history, among them: the capture of Adolf Eichmann, the eradicati

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99

The Neuroscience of Intelligence

Richard J. Haier

4.0

This book introduces new and provocative neuroscience research that advances our understanding of intelligence and the brain. Compelling evidence shows that genetics plays a more important role than environment as intelligence develops from childhood, and that intelligence test scores correspond strongly to specific features of the brain assessed with neuroimaging. In understandable language, Rich

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100

Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad (Updated)

Gordon Thomas

4.0

Created in 1951 to ensure the future of an embattled Israel, the Mossad has been responsible for the most audacious and thrilling feats of espionage, counterterrorism, and assassination ever ventured. Gordon Thomas's 1999 publication of Gideon's Spies, resulting from closed-door interviews with Mossad agents, informants, and spymasters as well as from classified documents and top-secret sources, r