Traditionally the military community held the intelligence profession in low esteem, spying was seen as dirty work and information was all to often ignored if it conflicted with a commander's own view. Handel examines the ways in which this situation has improved and argues that co-operation between the intelligence adviser and the military decision maker is vital.

Part 1 The US Civil War: the role of intelligence in the Chancellorsville Campaign, 1863, Jay Luvaas; Lee at Gettysburg - a general without intelligence, Jay Luvaas. Part 2 The First World War: British intelligence in Mesopotamia, 1914-16, Richard Popplewell; institutionalized deception and perception reinforcement - Allenby's campaigns in Palestine, 1917-18, Yigal Sheffy. Part 3 The Second World War: flawed perception and its effect upon operational thinking - the case of the Japanese army, 1937-41, Alvin D. Coox; the British Army, signals and security in the desert campaign, 1940-42, John Ferris; Convoy PQ17 - a study of intelligence and decision-making, Patrick Beesley; Ultra intelligence and General Macarthur's leap to Hollandia, January-April 1944, Edward J. Drea; German air intelligence in World War II, Horst Boog; a comparative analysis of RAF and Luftwaffe intelligence in the Battle of Britain, 1940, Sebastian Cox; intelligence and strategy - some observations on the war in the Mediterranean, 1941-45, Ralph Bennet.