Intelligence literature, sometimes referred to as espionage nonfiction, is a genre of non-fiction or historical literature, written in any language, that focuses on the field of intelligence, also known as Espionage. This field of literature includes biographies and autobiographies of intelligence officers, historical research and analysis of intelligence operations and missions, studies of undercover work, policy and legal studies surrounding the fields of intelligence law, intelligence history, and national security law, academic and professional journals, essays, textbooks, and more. Other works of intelligence literature include official histories, official reports, tradecraft and technical manuals, declassified documents and archival materials, and oral histories and interviews.
"The literature of intelligence is rich and voluminous... The topic of intelligence has long captured the imagination of readers, in part because it has been sensationalized and made to sound more intriguing than it probably is in real life... Authors breathlessly await the declassification of government documents decades after a particularly nasty chapter of American history or, if they cannot wait, seek to obtain documents expeditiously through the Freedom of Information Act process."
