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Rating: 
Summary: A report on intelligence
Review: Dull and boring. Written as if it were a report requested by a high ranking officer. Factual? Yes, but has a certain choppiness to it that is more prevalent in a "report." Needs to be "smoothed-out" to make the reading more pleasant and interesting. Contains too many quotes from letters/persons (a habit that too many of today's journalists persist in following), instead of incorporating those personal observations into the text. As a research document, it has merit. For general reading purposes, the form needs smoothing out.
Rating:
Summary: A report on intelligence
Review: Dull and boring. Written as if it were a report requested by a high ranking officer. Factual? Yes, but has a certain choppiness to it that is more prevalent in a "report." Needs to be "smoothed-out" to make the reading more pleasant and interesting. Contains too many quotes from letters/persons (a habit that too many of today's journalists persist in following), instead of incorporating those personal observations into the text. As a research document, it has merit. For general reading purposes, the form needs smoothing out.
Rating: 
Summary: (London) Times Literary Supplement critical review
Review: Excerpts from Mr. Allen Mawer's critical review in the 10 Nov 00 (London) Times Literary Supplement (TLS), p. 36:Not many MA theses translate well into books for the general reader, but Steven E. Maffeo's work has the advantage of an intriguing topic and a vital period: the use of the black arts of intelligence and counter-intelligence in naval strategy and tactics during the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon....There is a useful account of the role played by deception...shown to be as much a stock-in-trade then as it is now....[Maffeo also analyzes] the Nile campaign of 1798 [showing] how even Nelson was so misled by a piece of marginally incorrect information that it cost him the opportunity of ending Bonaparte's career at a blow....The book is rich in engaging anecdotes....
Rating: 
Summary: A solid examination of naval intelligence 200 years ago
Review: Steven E. Maffeo has served for over twenty years in the US naval reserve intelligence program and this book is an expansion of his thesis for a master's degree from the Joint Military Intelligence College. "Most Secret and Confidential" starts by surveying the intelligence collection and distribution systems at the national and Admiralty levels, then looking in greater detail at such topics as naval signals, the role of frigates, deception, and the duties of a naval commander (ship's captain and admiral), including being his own intelligence officer. Finally, the book focuses upon three particular case studies: the Battle of Oulo-Aur where the East India Company fleet successful bluffed the French naval squadron commanded by Linois (and used as the historical basis for part of Patrick O'Brian's novel "HMS Surprise"), the Copenhagen expedition of 1801, and the campaign ending in the Battle of the Nile. A good deal of attention is devoted to Nelson as an extremely effective Intelligence Officer. In the Nelson Era, fleet and ship commanders, aided by minimal or no staff at all, basically acted as their own intelligence officers, coordinating collection efforts and analyzing the information themselves. Maffeo repeatedly reminds us of the severe restrictions under which these men operated, almost unimaginable in today's electronic world. There were no radios, fax machines, computers, reconnaissance satellites, patrol aircraft, etc., and information dissemination was no faster than a courier vessel subject to uncertain winds. This is not a book primarily of derring-do tales of midnight landings of secret agents from boats with muffled oars, although Maffeo does recount the exploits of such naval officers as Lord Cochrane and his raids against enemy communications. But it is an unparalleled look at the secret world behind Royal Navy operations during the Age of Sail. A special bonus to fans of O'Brian, Forester, Pope, and Kent: To provide illumination of various points discussed, Maffeo frequently quotes from modern nautical fiction, showing how Jack Aubrey, Horatio Hornblower, Nicholas Ramage, and Richard Bolitho were subject to the very real restrictions upon and from naval intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but requires effort
Review: This is not a book that is easily read in a weekend. That is not to say that it is not good, or that it is boring; simply that to get the benefit out of it requires a considerable amount of concentration. There are reasons for this, the most important of which is that it is cramed with detail from one end to the other. This is typical of a thesis which has been sent to commercial print, but if you are not forewarned you could be disappointed. For serious scholars of naval or military intelligence (for the book has much content which is not purely naval in character) it is probably worth five stars. For those who want a good read without too much effort, it is probably a three star book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but requires effort
Review: This is not a book that is easily read in a weekend. That is not to say that it is not good, or that it is boring; simply that to get the benefit out of it requires a considerable amount of concentration. There are reasons for this, the most important of which is that it is cramed with detail from one end to the other. This is typical of a thesis which has been sent to commercial print, but if you are not forewarned you could be disappointed. For serious scholars of naval or military intelligence (for the book has much content which is not purely naval in character) it is probably worth five stars. For those who want a good read without too much effort, it is probably a three star book.
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