How Spies Think: Ten Lessons in Intelligence

This is a well written book; that explains how to think. The author worked in government under Margaret Thatcher for the Falklands war; right up to Tony Blair so has vast experience to how a government should work. His example that Turin and three other decipherers were not having their decoding acted upon swiftly enough because to many people read the reports before Churchill was fabulous. The Idea that on decoder took a message to Churchill's personal secretary was immense. Churchill then said all deciphering had to be brought to him straightaway. The message to then passed down the chain; rather than the other way up. A found it was best to read a chapter at a time so I could take in what I had read. I would read a novel and still be thinking of Mr Ormond's book.

Information wise this book is a gem. Great, balanced information. Gives almost a recipe for finding balance in a world consumed by fake news, misinformation and disinformation. I do believe that book would be helpful for everyone. Maybe even life changing in a way. That’s why it bothers me that the book is written in an outdated way. This book, in my opinion, is unfortunately not written for an average person, younger audience (anyone below the age of 60) or anyone for whom English is not the first language. They way the sentences are written is painfully over complicated. This could be easily rewritten in a much more accessible way without loosing any greatness but only gaining more audience. Overall I’d say it’s worth the struggle of going through it for the sheer amount of ‘advice’ on how to sort information and how to analyse it.

A really valuable encouraging volume that punches above its own weight. Well written, informative and thought provoking. I recommend heartily. Thinking man's introduction to the mechanics of thought in spy craft, espionage and intelligence trade craft.

Firstly, it's an extremely interesting book, offering insight and context on how to balance hypotheses and privilege multiple risks and probabilities, especially where data dilemmas are concerned. As a result, it can be dense and heavy going in parts and I'm not always as convinced as Omand is in suggesting it's efficacy in everyday/workaday life. Individuals and non specialists rarely have access to enough data to make Omand's calculations with any level of precision. That said, some of this will undoubtedly be enlightening even if only to underline the universal value of Occam's Razor, gut instinct and a typical pros and cons list. My biggest criticism is with the publisher. The company failed to apply Omand's modelling to assess the likelihood of the dust jacket ripping. It was simply too flimsy for practical use with stencil cut outs trying to create a visual metaphor, far too clever for its own good. My copy ripped after two days reading so it just felt a bit sloppy really for a book standing on such a premise of precise thinking. All in all certainly worth a look, I did learn things but more a primer in critical reasoning and technical evaluation rather than a history of field craft. I would have given 4 stars but for the dust jacket.

I found this to be an all round great book. The lessons in intelligence are also very applicable for those professionals in the risk management, internal audit and governance professions. Thank you David Omand for putting together such a book.

Gave this to my kids as a training manual on critical thinking & it is a very useful manual on how to evaluate situations & people in this media dominated age.

In an age dominated by an abundance of information both good and bad, it is essential that citizens learn how to be more critical of the information they receive. This book does that in an entertaining and understandable way. The author has broad and deep understanding of the concepts presented from his own experience gained from a long and distinguished career. This should be part of the national curriculum so that our children become more informed voters and less influenced by the tidal wave of misinformation.

Great if you like this sort of thing,