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Eric (Hammy) Schaefer

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The Dark Game: True Spy Stories from Invisible Ink to CIA Moles

by Paul B. Janeczko

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Eric (Hammy) Schaefer said: " In the book, The Dark Game: True Spy Stories, real spy stories throughout history are told. This book is not only intriguing, but also fundamentally exhilarating as you read about interesting spy stories all the way back to the American Revolution. A In the book, The Dark Game: True Spy Stories, real spy stories throughout history are told. This book is not only intriguing, but also fundamentally exhilarating as you read about interesting spy stories all the way back to the American Revolution. As you start with simple invisible ink and spies infiltrating the enemy way back in the 1700s, you progress to the modern era where is there is an abundance of new technology just making the spy game more complex. Spies start to use recon drones to fly over the enemy and collect intel, or simply hack some of the main communication lines of the enemy to find what they are planning. Even though times are changing as the book progresses, the same concept behind spying is consistent. Each side of a conflict or battle wants an upper hand on the enemy, so they hack, cheat, steal, anything they can to gain info on the enemies infrastructure that will help defeat them.
I thought it was a cool dynamic how the stories were told in chronological order, sometimes linking certain people together or referring back to the past events and how they have an effect on certain incidents. “After the Revolutionary war, spies began to be hired by countries to find information on the infrastructure of those countries” (Janeczko 27).This book could have more background detail about the people involved, not to say there was no information, but knowing where the spies originated and how they were introduced to spying. An interesting aspect, I think, would be the fluentness of how the story flows. As stated before, it begins in colonial times, and by the end of the book, you feel it was all connected as there were spies everywhere at all times and even still are today. There were not major splits in time periods and it all flowed nicely. Another good point on these stories are that they aren't difficult to get into. Only have thirty minutes? It allows you to read about 2-3 different stories at a time. There isn’t tons and tons of detail and in depth analyzation, but it gives you the interesting details and the main points, which is nice.
The authors purpose was simple, yet elegant. He allowed the reader to learn about complex spy situations, and created a fun, light read which is stimulating to the mind, opening questions about spies and the background of how they were involved in some wars, and even during times of peace. He allows the reader to be able to skip to certain stories with minimal confusion because each of the stories are separate, with only some details overlapping. There is even a spice of comedy within these stories which allow for a lightened, enjoyable mood.
Overall, this is an interesting, fun read. It is not tedious, long pages with small text, there are special biography, or pages with side information every ten to fifteen pages, which allow for a leisurely read. The stories date from the 1700s to the modern era and it is cool to see the transformation in spy equipment and techniques as the years change. The only negative would be how there is some information missing for the background of events or certain spies, even though a decent amount is covered. I am not sure if the author thought this extras information would crowd the reading, making it straw from the original idea of having a quick read, thats why I will give it a 4 out of 5. In result, this book is a great one, especially if you are interested in learning about spies throughout history or just like history in general. This read will open your mind to questions about today and what types of spies are out there now. I would recommend this book to a friend. ...more "

May 22, 2013 11:27AM · see review