Among the “classics,” my favorite is probably Strategic Intelligence by Sherman Kent. Kent’s prose is timelessly lucid, and his three-part analysis (intelligence as knowledge, as organization, as activity) is said to have influenced the development of the U.S. spy agencies. The word “strategic” in the title points the discussion toward ways to identify and acquire “knowledge which is vital for national survival.”
Anyone wanting to understand why nations have intelligence agencies, and how information needs structure their activity, should read it.
