MI6 Spy Skills for Civilians: A former British agent reveals how to live like a spy - smarter, sneakier and ready for anything

by Red Riley, John Wiseman (Introduction)

JAMES BOND IS THE FANTASY. HERE'S THE REALITY.

- Written by a former SAS officer and MI6 operative for Her Majesty's Secret Service
- Details more than 100 skills, tips and techniques employed by spies to get the job done
- Packed with fascinating information about real-world spies and their cinematic counterparts
- Foreword written by a director of the James Bond film franchise

MI6 Spy Skills for Civilians shows you how to master the skills of a British agent in order to protect yourself and others, be sneakier and handle any situation - even if it involves escaping from a hostile foreign country. Inside you'll find dozens of real secret agent skills and tips detailed and explained, often with helpful illustrations to clarify how they’re done.

Sections covered include:

- Surveillance
- Safe Travel Tips
- Dead Letter Boxes
- Brush Contacts
- Self Defense
- Innocuous and Natural Weapons
- Intelligence Gathering
- Subterfuge
- Covert Methods of Entry
- Insertion and Extraction Techniques
- And much more!

The book covers more than 100 tips and techniques in all, as detailed by Red Riley, a former SAS and MI6 operative. It's invaluable information formerly available only to a select few - and now it's available to you, too!

Includes a foreword by Ian Sharp, action director of the classic James Bond film Goldeneye.

Genres: Nonfiction, Espionage, Psychology, Self Help

224 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2020

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

An essential reference if you ever need to write a scene involving a character’s submarine extraction from the coastline of enemy territory, or the proper way to execute a high altitude, high opening parachute drop into enemy territory without flying directly over said territory. Surveillance, eavesdropping, escape, evasion, aliases, and other skulduggeries and subterfuge - and a fun read.

[Poetniknowit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book.

Especially helpful for researching characters for spy/detective fiction, it as the novel advertises, how to disappear, cover your tracks, etc.

There's pretty useful everyday information, like self defense, and it was fun to imagine a scenario where you'd actually need to use this information.

I liked the asides about real agents and the feats they accomplished while active.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was exceedingly lucky to be able to read a pre release copy of this book from P J Red Riley. It gives an absolutely fascinating insight into life as a spy and all that it entails, covering everything from essential spy attributes, physical appearance, evading capture, surveillance, how to beat a lie detector test and even how to correctly hold a toast at a Secret Services formal dinner! It is set out in easily digestible sections, covering a wide variety of aspects, interspersed with relevant real life cases/spy history. It is very well written in a style that I enjoyed and also had great humour in places. You can really tell that P J has a vast wealth of knowledge from his time in the service and I’m thrilled that he has taken the time to give us the opportunity to get a glimpse into this exhilarating and clandestine world! I can thoroughly recommend this brilliant book.

[C.C. Yager · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book as a check for my own fiction writing as well as to satisfy my curiosity about the kind of training field operatives receive. It's also an interesting check on how spies are depicted in movies and on TV.

The tone of the writing is friendly, sometimes a bit tongue-in-cheek, but also quite serious at times when discussing situations that could be life-threatening and how to get out of them. The 17 chapters cover everything from disguise to self-defense and weapons, intelligence gathering, subterfuge and extraction. While some of the skills I'd never imagine a civilian needing, others like avoiding surveillance, disguise, and self-defense could be quite useful. Riley also describes the different kinds of spies, i.e. spies with cover (usually connected to an embassy) and those without, and the dangers spies without cover face on a regular basis.

This book is a very fast read that I read in spurts between other books. The writing is clear and quite entertaining at times. If you are looking for Red Riley to spill any MI6 secrets, however, you will be disappointed. I would describe the information in this book as being of a general nature and not connected to any specific espionage case.

I'd recommend this book for readers looking for interesting information on espionage skills or those interested in learning just exactly what spies learn and what they can do. It was a fun read.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is, as you might guess, not actually Red Riley. Some basic tradecraft starting with becoming a spy -- as bland as possible, and probably not possible if you are striking such as being immensely tall or short -- hit on maintaining an alias, evasion, extractions, fighting if you absolutely can't escape, evading surveillance, and other such spy things.

[Jake Losh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably not worth reading. It is a book and it talks about "spy" stuff, but lacks any kind of actual voice of authority or much to lend it credibility. Expect to be entertained, not informed, and you may still enjoy it.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a fun book with some interesting insight into what MI6 spies go through.

[Walden Browne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly.

[Robb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Red Riley is a legend and this is a good book to have on the shelves.

[Fenny Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Brian Elwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful, and and enjoyable read. Good for reference and also for personal use.

[VICTORIA VAN VLEAR · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and clever read. I do wish the author had included real life stories from his career as illustrations rather than talking about scenes from movies.

[Scott Satterwhite · Rating 4 out of 5]

good stuff in this little manual.

[Anna Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you wake up every morning wishing you knew how to drop-kick a double agent, escape a desolate prison or arrange a secret helicopter rescue? Probably not, but this manual written by a former British agent under a fake name is genuinely interesting and entertaining. I have a newfound respect for the men and women who work in intelligence. They are often put in life-threatening situations, completely isolated and alone, and expected to successfully complete their missions without compromising their identities or dying in the process. Plus, they never really get the public recognition they deserve for obvious reasons. It does not seem like a glamorous lifestyle in the slightest, but it sure is fun to read about not-so-James-Bond spies.