History Channel - Spy Web International Espionage - Set 2 (1999) Part 1 Spying from the Skies

Unlike any other Century the last 100 years has provided filmed conflicts and adventures covering World Wars and many other sweeping military actions. All too often these huge conflicts have been taken at face value. The story has unfolded in newspapers and film clips in a way which has left historians to piece together the final jigsaw. But even now have their efforts given us the true picture? Through the American Freedom of Information Act, the relaxation of the British Fifty Year Rule, and the opening of KGB secret files, there are now fascinating gems of information emerging from the previously forbidden archives which have been firmly closed to outside eyes. Documents and film footage previously designated as “Top Secret” or “Most Secret” have slowly been released sometimes without announcement or publicity, waiting for knowledgeable researchers to put two and two together in order to find out what really happened. A classic recent example is the story of the British spy John Cairncross who revealed the Allies' Atomic Bomb to Stalin. It is understandable when fighting a war against evil - whether a declared war against a fascist monster like Hitler or a Cold War tyrant like Stalin - not to disclose your greatest codebreaking achievements or espionage successes, for fear of compromising your agents or giving useful information to the enemy. However, when peace returns the population needs to know how their collective and sometimes secret efforts helped to destroy a crazed madman or an enslaving ideology. In this series “Spy Web Great Spying Stories of the Twentieth Century” the research team have uncovered some of the most fascinating spying and espionage stories which helped win victory in the most harrowing circumstances. It will examine the subterfuge and espionage which helped to defeat the Kaiser in World War I, how the Germans mounted a sabotage campaign in the United States during World War II, and how each major power enlisted sophisticated spy rings and elaborate hoaxes to mislead the enemy. What were the real code breaking successes of World War II and why have they only been released now? How did American Intelligence break the Russian Military codes during the Cold War and which spy rings contained double - double agents? How did the Cambridge spy ring operate and did the KGB really appreciate the information it received? With the wealth of new information now coming to light it is possible to look back over the major conflicts of the last 100 years and take for the first time a completely new look at what really happened. Did British and American Intelligence really crack the German and Japanese codes so well that they could assassinate a Japanese Admiral in mid-air? Did the Allies de-code Hitler's orders faster than his own Generals could? Which events that looked like chance at the time, were really brought about by the use of codebreaking and espionage? Why were all Soviet maps deliberately inaccurate? Were known spies given false intelligence in order to hoax the Russians during the Cold War? Was a British frogman caught red-handed under a Russian cruisers hull? Who was James Bond based on and were his real exploits stranger than fiction? Now for the first time this series can reveal the cloak and dagger world of spies and espionage during the last 100 years. Great Spying Stories of the Twentieth Century - You will never look at History in quite the same way again!

Part 1 Spying from the Skies

The balloon first gave mankind the ability to look down on the battlefield; then came ever more sophisticated aircraft with cameras. Today much of the work of intelligence gathering is undertaken by satellites. The fascinating story of spying from the air over the last 100 years, including the hitherto untold story of the secret spy flights of the Cold War.

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