espionage

Introduction

espionage ĕsˈpēənäzhˌ, the act of obtaining information clandestinely. The term applies particularly to the act of collecting military, industrial, and political data about one nation for the benefit of another. Industrial espionage—the theft of patents and processes from business firms—is not properly espionage at all.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
In the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
Beginnings through the Nineteenth Century
History
Modern Espionage
Bibliography

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