A leading authority on the world's secret service agencies, Richard Deacon examines in Kempei Tai the growth and development of one of the world's oldest and most effective espionage organizations, the Japanese Secret Service.
This highly readable analysis traces epic events in the history of the Japanese Secret Service, from its inception in the sixteenth century (when one of Japan's first spies was an Englishman!) to the modern-day commercial espionage that plays no small part in the nation's domination of world trade.
For the first time Western readers can learn the full story of how the Secret Service enabled Japan to win the Russo-Japanese War, the decisive event that propelled Japan into the modern world.
Also explored is the organization's amazing pre-Pearl Harbor intelligence operations in the United States, its disintegration after World War Il and, finally, its resurrection as the giant organization that works today for the economic prosperity of Japan.
