Intelligence

by Robert Newman

'Joyful, sad, smart and surprising' NICK HORNBY, bestselling author of High Fidelity and About a Boy

Was he about to recruit her into the secret service? She held her breath. Frogwoman, codebreaker, assassin, saboteur - whatever it was, she'd do it!

Oxford, 1938. Ida and Medora are two brilliant young philosophers at the heart of a group who gather in storied rooms to dance, drink and debate theories of right and wrong.

But as the world spins towards war, theoretical questions of life and death become all too real. While her friends are called up to do intelligence work, Ida, the irrepressible Texan outsider, seeks academic distraction. Then she stumbles across secret Nazi information that could radically change the direction of the war. Can she and Medora capture the attention of the spymasters and mandarins in London in time to save thousands of lives?

Seductive, witty and page-turning, Intelligence is the unputdownable new novel from one of the UK's best-loved writers and comedians.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 5, 2026

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Robert ("Rob") Newman (born 7 July 1964) is a British stand-up comedian, author and political activist. In 1993 Newman and his then comedy partner David Baddiel became the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena in London. He was born to a Greek Cypriot father and British mother.

Newman's first speaking appearance was with Third World First (now known as People and Planet), the student political organisation. In addition to comedy and writing, he has also worked as a paperboy in Whitwell, Hertfordshire, farmhand, warehouse-man, house-painter, teacher, mail sorter, social worker, mover, and broadcaster.

Reviews

[Kel Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this book.
I listened to the audio book, the narration was easy to listen to a created great characters.
The story is set around the start of WW2 and centres on some young philosophers who go on to work in intelligence.
A great story with some wonderful historical references, friendship, love, adventure and daring.
Easy to listen to but not as easy to put down.

[Christine Sampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two women who were philosophy students at university become code breakers/ spies in the Second World War. The author tells a good story yet sometimes his enthusiasm to bring the reader into the era feels a bit contrived; as if he’s been through history books to locate specifics germane to the time. This can be endearing but it can be distracting from what is a fairly pleasant and easy read.

[Jason Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligence
by Robert Newman

Well, here’s a thing: philosophy at war.
Against the Hun, how fares the old Oxonian?
What use the abstract problems they explore
In Bodleian, All Souls and old Sheldonian?
Intelligence, it seems, is not identical
To sophistry and glibness Ciceronian,
For moral sense extends its feeling tentacle
To eyes in skies and hand grenades chthonian.

Every page wears telling detail lightly:
Reconnaissance of minds and foreign fields;
Dons dispatched from dens, who bear it brightly,
Alert to what their urgent digging yields:
Joy and sorrow, death to Tom and Jerry,
The tangled needs of Ida, Glyn and Merry.

[Christiaan van Lennep · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful weekend read pulling the reader into a world of intelligence and unexpected turns.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Intelligence’ follows Oxford philosophers from theoretical debate to being confronted by those same dilemmas through the course of WWII.

The cast of characters was easily distinguishable due to the narrator and there were parts of the narrative that were amusing and engaging. Largely, I found the plot quite thin and I didn’t find myself emotionally invested in the characters which ultimately impacted the landing of the ending for me.


via NetGalley

[Susan J. Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this story from start to finish. Beginning at the build up to WW2, Ida (a lively and expressive Texan) and Merry (a wealthy and practical Brit) are at Oxford amongst a group of intellectual young philosophers, constantly crashing up against the proverbial glass ceiling and challenges presented by old-school-tie cronyism. As war breaks out, they find themselves sidelined while all the men in their circle are recruited to the intelligence services. When they each encounter information that could alter the course of the war, their biggest challenge is to find a man who’ll take them seriously.
What I loved: Ida, Merry, their wit, gumption and quick thinking. These are exactly the type of women you want as your ride or dies. I loved Alix Dunmore’s excellent narration, which made the gals and chaps leap off the page. It was a joy to listen to.
What I didn’t love: absolutely nothing. Five big shiny ones from me. Probably my favourite book so far this year.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and to Profile Books Audio for the chance to listen to an ALC/ARC. Intelligence released on 5 March, and if you love a wartime story, I urge you to grab a copy pronto!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. A fast paced adventure with kick-ass, clever women working in intelligence during WW2. It made me think of those Girl's Own Adventure cartoon strips that I used to read in comics when I was a child, full of daring-do.

[Tom Barry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure William Boyd was reading the same book as me☹️☹️

[Verity Halliday · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligence is about young Oxford academics who are called up to do intelligence work at the beginning of World War II. I liked the characters, but didn't feel as immersed in the feeling of war that I hoped. On more than one occasion, characters looked out of a window into the night while working, which made me wonder why they didn't have blackout enforced in government buildings.

Nevertheless, an interesting read, with good narration in the audiobook.

[Bryony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but I found the pacing off, there were several tangents to the main plot of the intelligence grabbing about German forces. It was definitely a style adopted and it wasn't bad, it is just not one I prefer. I enjoyed some of these tangents and there were definitely debates in there that were important.

I enjoyed the characters though, I think it represents the unsung heroes of world war 2, the ones who did the intelligence grabbing but in secret without a fan fair for the good of the country. The ending gave me a tear in my eye, and again representative of people who did this work and then came to an untimely end.

[Beachcomber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I expected to like this more, from the description, and couldn’t really work out why it didn’t quite spark for me. I think there were a number of tangents as another reviewer said, and maybe I just found my attention wandering so that I didn’t manage to keep the characters and timings as straight in my head. It was OK and worth a read, but nothing particularly stood out for me.

I received a free ARC audiobook of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

[Rochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set at the start of WW2 this follows a group of friends who end up working together in intelligence. The characters were great but I wanted to feel more of a connection to them.

Overall this was a pretty enjoyable and fast paced read.