HIST 335 | Intelligence and Espionage in Europe and the US

This course examines the history of the activities of intelligence services, with a focus on Europe and North America from the end of WWI to the present day. In today’s world, few figures fascinate us (or disgust us) as much as the spy, a figure whose profession poses difficult questions about truth and deception, morality and deviance, personal and national betrayal, and the power of the modern state. Beyond the popular cult of spies, however, espionage has played a crucial role in the shaping of the twentieth-century world in a number of ways: spurring the fighting (or avoidance) of wars, shaping diplomatic and military policies, propelling and exploiting technological advancements, and creating political and mass cultures.