espionage

espionage ĕsˈpēənäzhˌ [key], 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
• Modern Espionage
• Bibliography

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