In the murky world of espionage few rules apply. Everything is permitted in the name of state security - even talking to the country's Enemy No. 1. This is exactly what Niël Barnard, then head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), did in the late 1980s, conducting top-secret talks with Nelson Mandela in prison - the precursor to Mandela's release and the democratic elections. The book also sheds light on the daily lives of spies during NIS's heyday in the 1980s and contains several revelations about the organisation's accomplishments.