cover image The Big Book of Spy Stuff

The Big Book of Spy Stuff

Bart King, illus. by Russell Miller. Gibbs Smith, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4236-1874-4

This lightly illustrated, tongue-in-cheek guide to espionage (part of the Big Book series) explores a broad swathe of spy-related topics%E2%80%94everything from eavesdropping and code breaking to cyber-warfare and spreading misinformation%E2%80%94while referring to historical (and recent) spies and spy operations. King includes topics like assassination, but keeps the tone light ("Some villains are so mean, their assassination seems only fair"). Amusing anecdotes, such as when Madeleine Albright wore a bright bug pin for a meeting with the Russians (to inform them that she knew of the bugs they'd placed in State Department offices), should entertain while giving readers a sense of how espionage works in the real world. Ages 8%E2%80%93up. (Mar.)