An examination of one of the most important yet underexplored aspects of World War II--intelligence--shows how espionage successes and failures by the United States, Britain, Russia, Germany, and Japan influenced the course of the war and its final outcome.

"First published in a different form in the United Kingdom in 2015"--Title page verso.

Before the deluge. Seekers after truth ; The British: gentlemen and players ; The Russians: temples of espionage -- The storm breaks. The "fiction flood" ; Shadowing Canaris -- Miracles take a little longer: Bletchley. "Tips" and "cillis" ; Flirting with America -- The dogs that barked. "Lucy's" people ; Sorge's warnings ; The orchestra plays ; The deaf man in the Kremlin -- Divine winds. Mrs Ferguson's tea set ; The Japanese ; The man who won Midway -- Muddling and groping: the Russians at war. Centre mobilises ; The end of Sorge ; The second source ; Gourevitch takes a train -- Britain's secret war machine. The sharp end ; The brain ; At sea -- 'Mars': the bloodiest deception. Gehlen ; "Agent Max" -- The orchestra's last concert -- Guerrilla. Registers and raiders ; SOE -- Hoover's G-men, Donovan's wild men. Adventurers ; Ivory towers ; Allen Dulles: talking to Germany -- Russia's partisans: terrorising both sides -- Islands in the storm. The Abwehr's Irish jig ; No man's land -- A little help from their friends. "It stinks, but somebody has to do it" ; American traitors -- The knowledge factories. Agents ; The jewel of sources ; Production lines ; Infernal machines -- 'Blunderhead': the English patient -- Eclipse of the Abwehr. Hitler's Bletchleys ; "Cicero" ; The fantasists ; The "good" Nazi -- Battlefields. Wielding the Ultra wand ; Suicide spies ; Tarnished triumph -- Black widows, few white knights. Fighting Japan ; Fighting each other ; The enemy: groping in the dark -- 'Enormoz' -- Decoding victory.