The Art of Spying: A History of Espionage from Antiquity to the Digital Age
22 January 2027
11:00am-12:30pm
Online or Rewley House 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA
Event status:
Applications being accepted
Location:
Online or Rewley House 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA
Dates:
22 January 2027 - 26 February 2027
Study Format:
Online - live
Fees:
From £75.00 to £90.00
How do states really learn their rivals’ secrets, and how has this shaped the course of history? Find out in this hybrid lecture series given by Andrew Badger.
From the imperial spy networks of ancient Persia and the clandestine diplomacy of Renaissance Venice to the Cold War’s intelligence battles and today’s cyber operations, espionage has always been central to the exercise of power.
This series, taught by a former intelligence officer and bestselling author on espionage, traces the evolution of spying across two millennia. You will explore how agents are recruited and run, how covert action has influenced wars and governments, and why human intelligence (HUMINT) remains indispensable even in an age of satellites, AI, and cyber surveillance.
Each session pairs historical case studies with contemporary examples, showing how classic tradecraft adapts to new technologies and changing geopolitical contexts. Themes include recruitment and handler relationships, deception and counter-intelligence, covert action, insider threats, and the future of intelligence in an era of digital surveillance.
Teaching blends lecture, discussion, and practical scenarios. By the end of the course, you will better understand how intelligence services operate, how espionage shapes geopolitics, and what the future of spying may look like in an increasingly contested world. No prior knowledge of the subject is required — only curiosity and an interest in history and international affairs.
Please note: enrolments for the complete series will close at 23:59 GMT on 19 January 2027.
Book this course
You can opt to attend this teaching event either online (via a livestream) or in person at Rewley House, Oxford. You will be given the option of how you wish to attend during the enrolment process. You can only pick one option. If your preferred attendance format is fully booked, you can email us to be put on the waiting list. For those who wish to attend online, please read the IT requirements below before enrolling.
IT requirements
We will be using Zoom for the livestreaming of this lecture series. If you’re attending online, you’ll be able to see and hear the speakers, and to submit questions via the Zoom interface. Joining instructions will be sent out prior to the start date. We recommend that you join the session at least 10-15 minutes prior to the start time – just as you might arrive a bit early at our lecture theatre for an in-person event.
Please note that this lecture series will not be recorded.
Recommended reading
Macintyre, B., The Spy and the Traitor (Viking, 2018)
Richelson, J. T., A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century (Oxford University Press, 1995)
Shulsky, A. N. and Schmitt, G. J., Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence (Potomac Books, 2002)
Programme details
Lectures take place on Fridays, from 11–12.30am
Friday 22 January
Origins: Spies, Scribes and the Ancient Art of Knowing
Espionage is older than the state itself. This opening lecture traces the foundations of intelligence work from the imperial spy networks of Achaemenid Persia and the strategic deceptions catalogued in Sun Tzu’s Art of War, through the informants of the Roman frumentarii to the messenger systems of the early Islamic caliphates. Andrew sets out the analytical vocabulary that will run through the series — sources, tradecraft, deception, covert action — and shows how the essential problem facing any spymaster, then as now, has always been the same: how to learn what a rival most wants to keep hidden.
Friday 29 January
The Renaissance of Intelligence: Venice, Walsingham and the Diplomatic Underworld
The early modern period transformed espionage from an ad hoc craft into a recognisable profession. This lecture examines the world’s first systematic intelligence services: the cipher clerks and informants of the Venetian Council of Ten, the European-wide network run by Sir Francis Walsingham in the service of Elizabeth I, and the rival operations of the Spanish and French crowns. Participants will see how diplomacy, commerce and espionage became deeply intertwined, and how foundational tradecraft — recruitment, cover, codebreaking, the running of agents abroad — took the shape it broadly retains today.
Friday 5 February
The Great Game and the Birth of the Modern Service
The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw espionage industrialised. This lecture follows the Anglo-Russian rivalry across Central Asia known as the “Great Game,” the founding of permanent civilian and military intelligence services in Britain, France, Germany and Russia, and the explosion of espionage during the First World War. Andrew explores the emergence of the professional case officer, the rise of signals intelligence alongside human sources, and the moment when “intelligence” became something that governments organised, funded and worried about in peacetime as well as war.
Friday 12 February
The Cold War: Tradecraft, Defectors and the Human Factor
No period has shaped the popular image of espionage more than the Cold War — and few have been so misunderstood. This lecture examines the great contests between the CIA, KGB, MI6 and Stasi: the Cambridge Five, Penkovsky, Ames and Hanssen, the running of agents through the Berlin Wall, and the covert operations that shaped the politics of dozens of countries beyond the superpowers themselves. Through these cases we examine how spies are spotted, assessed, recruited and run — and why the insider threat has always been the hardest problem in intelligence.
Friday 19 February
HUMINT in the Digital Age: Cyber, AI and the Future of Spying
Satellites, ubiquitous surveillance, biometric borders and artificial intelligence have transformed the operating environment for human intelligence — but they have not replaced it. This lecture examines how classical tradecraft is adapting to a world in which a case officer’s cover can be unravelled by a face-recognition database and where adversary services hunt for agents using machine learning. Andrew considers contemporary cases from China, Russia and the Middle East, the rise of private intelligence, and the question that troubles every modern service: what does it mean to recruit and run a human source when nothing digital is truly secret?
Friday 26 February
From History to Practice: A Panel Discussion with Intelligence Practitioners
The series concludes with a panel discussion bringing together former intelligence officers, government officials and industry experts to reflect on the themes raised over the preceding five weeks. Panellists will discuss how the craft of espionage is actually practised today, how the historical patterns examined in earlier lectures map onto the contemporary world, and the ethical, legal and political pressures shaping modern intelligence work. Chaired by Andrew, the session offers participants the chance to put questions directly to those who have spent their careers in — and around — the secret world.
How and when to watch
Each lecture will last approximately 1 hour, followed by questions.
Please join in good time before each lecture to ensure that you have no connection problems. We recommend joining 10-15 minutes before the start time.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| In-person event fee (includes tea/coffee and a pastry) | £90.00 |
| Virtual event fee | £75.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit or are a full-time student in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of the event fee. Please note that the discount does not apply to catering or accommodation.
Concessionary fees for short courses
Mr Andrew Badger
Andrew Badger is a veteran of the US Intelligence Community (IC) where he served for six years as a human intelligence collection officer. He is a graduate of the CIA’s elite training course ‘The Farm’ and deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 where he conducted intelligence operations in support of the US military.
Since transitioning to the private sector, Andrew has worked in geopolitical risk management for firms like McKinsey and Deutsche Bank. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford. He is currently a Research Associate with the Oxford Emerging Threats Working Group.
Mr Badger is the co-author of the book The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets, Harper Collins (2025).
Module code: O26P143DSL
Please use the ‘Book’ button on this page. Alternatively, please contact us to obtain an application form.
You can also register for individual lectures if you do not wish to attend the whole series.
You can opt to attend this teaching event either online (via a livestream) or in person at Rewley House, Oxford. You will be given the option of how you wish to attend during the enrolment process. You can only pick one option. If your preferred attendance format is fully booked, you can email us to be put on the waiting list. For those who wish to attend online, please read the IT requirements below before enrolling.
