Behind the land battles and naval engagements of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain and France fought another, hidden conflict. Drawing on contemporary letters, journals and police reports, this history describes the political intrigue, secret agents, informers, and state-sponsored murders that were part of the attempt to overthrow the French Republic. Its cast includes the forgotten fathers of British intelligence, William Wickham and Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, and the French general turned British agent, Charles Pichegru.