Adrian. Taylor Furnham (john.) - The Psychology of Spies and Spying: Trust, Treason, Treachery

Copyright 2022 Adrian Furnham and John Taylor

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All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official positions or views of the UK government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying UK government authentication of information. This material has been reviewed by the appropriate authorities in the UK government to prevent disclosure of classified information.

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The world of espionage intrigues almost everybody. The spy novel and movie are as popular now as ever. James Bond, Jack Ryan and George Smiley present different images of the spy, and each generates a debate about how realistic they are. We receive regular reports of spies getting caught, diplomats expelled in revenge, and clever new tricks and toys available to those in the spying game. Our research also showed how poorly the agent is represented in fiction.

However, the profession is so secret authors, screenplay writers and journalists can say what they like, knowing full well that they are not going to be contradicted. Authors of fake news, who have a different, more malevolent agenda also have free rein to say what they like. This means it is hard to know what spies really do, how they are selected and how they go about their shady, cloak-and-dagger work. It is quite simply very difficult to be well informed about the world of espionage for good reason.

Our aim in writing The Psychology of Spies and Spying is not to expose all, or to criticise those who do write about espionage. We love the spy novel and film as much as anyone else. Our aim is to pull together information from open sources and present a picture of spying which is closer to the truth. We do so from a privileged position as we have had extensive contact over many decades with agencies from all over the world. We can therefore identify from the enormous quantity of freely available academic and other sources, material that is closer to the truth.

When we were writing the book, we asked friends what they thought a book on this topic would contain. What surprised us was how difficult the question seemed to be to answer, yet how intrigued they all were by what we said it did contain. The world of spying is so full of myths and misconceptions, we felt it was time to put things straight.

Authors may wish to draw on the book if they wish to introduce more realism or a different perspective in their works. Prospective candidates for employment in the intelligence world will, we hope, find this a useful antidote to the more extreme fictional works. And we would even like to think that there will be something in this book which may help intelligence officers develop into more effective source handlers.

The real world is no less exciting than the fictional. We have come across few intelligence officers who found their work boring or who left for more stimulating work. And impressively, as we note, their world is built more on trust than deceit.