"This is an important study that examines a largely-ignored but significant piece of Second World War history. Ben Wheatley points out that intelligence gathering consists of far more than glamorous femme fatale spies and surreptitious document drops in parks, but is fundamentally the meticulous gathering of information from a wide range of sources. The importance of open source intelligence (OSINT) has often been neglected by scholars because it rarely fits the glamorous image of intelligence work made famous in novels and popular media, but as Wheatley observes it played a key role in understanding the German occupation of the Soviet Union and provided information that could not otherwise have been obtained for a variety of reasons. This is a work that deserves to be read by anyone interested in the intelligence battles that took place behind closed doors during the Second World War and the British struggle to gather reliable information under some of the most difficult political circumstances imaginable." -- Bradley W. Hart, Assistant Professor, California State University, Fresno, USA " British Intelligence and Hitler's Empire in the Soviet Union moves intelligence history off the beaten track in two very interesting ways: first it takes the reader to the ghastly Reichskommissariat Ostland; secondly it demonstrates that Britain was not merely spying on its enemies, it was taking pains to understand them." -- Simon Ball, Professor and Chair of International History & Politics, University of Leeds, UK "In this absorbing account Dr Wheatley shines new light on a previously unknown aspect of the secret war between Britain and Nazi Germany. Here, for the first time, is a detailed description of the open source intelligence war that was being waged in tandem with the secret war.

I highly recommend it." -- Michael S. Goodman, Professor in Intelligence & International Affairs in the Department of War Studies, King's College London, UK "A significant and stimulating contribution that widens our understanding of the clandestine conflict between Britain and Hitler's Germany." -- Christopher Moran, Associate Professor of US National Security, University of Warwick, UK.