“A king shall have his agents in the courts of the enemy, the ally, the middle and the neutral kings to spy on the kings as well as eighteen types of “A king shall have his agents in the courts of the enemy, the ally, the middle and the neutral kings to spy on the kings as well as eighteen types of high officials” – Kautilya’s Arthashastra, ancient Indian text on statecraft
In God we trust, the rest we monitor…
The Unending Game has been penned by Vikram Sood, former chief of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). In the author’s words, “It is not a personal memoir, nor is it about the organization for which I worked. Instead, it seeks to familiarize those who are interested in the intricacies of espionage and intelligence collection and, hopefully, to help prepare our systems for the turbulence that lies ahead.”
The book is well researched and well written, and concentrates on twentieth century espionage starting from the Cold War era to the current global jihad.
The reader would gain an overview on the art and science of espionage. There are many interesting stories and facts about espionage carried out by nations; the secret societies formed by the powerful with intentions of influencing world affairs to serve their vested interests (Bilderberg, Pinay Circle etc.); the Deep State; the triangle between terrorists, criminals and spies. The author has also cautioned about the profligate consumption of wastage resources and the dire consequences, and the potential ill effects of AI and smart weapons. I am not delving into the details here.
The author has shed some light on RAW as well. It would have been better if he had elaborated a bit more on the organization.
I enjoyed reading the book, and particularly liked the many references to popular culture – novels, movies, perceptions. By the way, the author seems to be an admirer of John Le Carre novles. I added quite a few books and movies to my TBR and watch list respectively. The author has also quoted statesmen, spymasters and authors multiple times, which added to the reading experience. As an incorrigible mystery and thriller lover, I have read many novels around spies – from the outlandish adventures of James Bond to the world of moral ambiguity inhabited by John Le Carre’s characters. But, this is one of the very few non-fiction books I have read on spycraft. Thus, I don’t have a clear benchmark on which to evaluate this book. My rating is based on the satisfaction I had from reading this book.
There are certainly more insightful books on espionage out there. As a starting point, this book is pretty good.