Spies of No Country: Israel's Secret Agents at the Birth of

Spies of No Country: Israel's Secret Agents at the Birth of the Mossad

â€œWondrous . . . Compelling . . . Piercing.â€ â€”The New York Times Book Review

Award-winning writer Matti Friedmanâ€™s tale of Israelâ€™s first spies has all the tropes of an espionage novel, including duplicity, betrayal, disguise, clandestine meetings, the bluff, and the double bluffâ€”but itâ€™s all true.

Journalist and award-winning author Matti Friedmanâ€™s tale of Israelâ€™s first spies reads like an espionageÂ novel--but itâ€™s all true.Â TheÂ four agents atÂ the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as theÂ Arab Section, conceived during World War II byÂ British spies and Jewish militiaÂ leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotageÂ operations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the ArabÂ world and could thus easily assume ArabÂ identities.

InÂ 1948, with Israelâ€™s existence hanging in the balance, these men went undercoverÂ in Beirut, where theyÂ spent the next two years operating out of a newsstand,Â collecting intelligence and sending messages back to IsraelÂ via a radio whoseÂ antenna was disguised as a clothesline. Of the dozen spies in the Arab SectionÂ at the warâ€™sÂ outbreak, five were caught and executed. But in the end, the ArabÂ Section would emerge as the nucleus of theÂ Mossad, Israelâ€™s vauntedÂ intelligence agency.

Spies of NoÂ CountryÂ is about the slippery identities of these youngÂ spies, but itâ€™s also about theÂ complicated identity of Israel, a country thatÂ presents itself as Western but in fact has more citizens with Middle EasternÂ rootsÂ and traditions, like the spies of this narrative. Meticulously researchedÂ and masterfully told,Â Spies ofÂ No CountryÂ isÂ an eye-opening look at the paradoxesÂ of the Middle East.
Country USA
Manufacturer Algonquin Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2019-03-05
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Algonquin Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2019-03-05
Format	Kindle eBook

Spies of No Country: Israel's Secret Agents at the Birth of the Mossad

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