Book
The DGSE: a concise history of France's foreign intelligence service
This book by Damien van Puyvelde provides the first comprehensive English-language account of France's modern foreign intelligence and explores its evolution, operations, and role in global security.
- Author
- Damien Van Puyvelde
- Date
- 01 April 2026
- Links
- Access the book here
Van Puyvelde traces the history and inner workings of the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE), and examines its roots, organisation, and transformation into one of Europe’s most sophisticated intelligence services. Drawing on official reports, declassified materials, memoirs, and interviews, the book reveals how the DGSE balances espionage, covert action, and national security in response to evolving threats such as terrorism, foreign interference, and cyber conflict.
Through thematic chapters, the study analyses the agency’s leadership, partnerships, and shifting reputation. Controversies include the Rainbow Warrior affair to modern reforms that have strengthened its credibility and operational capacity. Van Puyvelde situates the DGSE within the broader landscape of global intelligence cooperation, and demonstrates how it has adapted to twenty-first-century security imperatives while retaining distinctive French strategic priorities. The work offers a nuanced view of the DGSE’s influence within both the French state and international intelligence networks, making it a vital contribution to intelligence studies and French political history.