{"title":"Books about the history of the intelligence services","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"defence-of-the-realm","title":"The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5","description":"\u003cp\u003eTo mark the centenary of its foundation, the British Security Service, MI5, opened its archives to an independent historian. The Defence of the Realm, the book which results, is an unprecedented publication, It reveals the precise role of the Service in twentieth-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909 to root out 'the spies of the Kaiser' up to its present role in countering Islamic terrorism. It describes the distinctive ethos of MI5, how the organization has been managed, its relationship with the government, where it has triumphed and where it has failed. In all of this, no restriction has been placed on the judgements made by the author. The book also reveals the identities of previously unknown enemies of the UK whose activities have been uncovered by the Service, adds significantly to our knowledge of many celebrated events and notorious individuals, and definitively lays to rest a number of persistent myths; above all, it shows the place of this previously extremely secretive organisation within the United Kingdom. Few books could make such an immediate and extraordinary increase to our understanding of British history over the past century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":34074231013507,"sku":"9780141023304","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9780141023304.jpg?v=1610370553"},{"product_id":"m","title":"M: Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster","description":"\u003cp\u003eA jazz obsessive and nature enthusiast (he is the author of the definitive work on how to look after a gorilla), he is seen today as one of MI5's greatest spymasters, a man who did more than any other to break up British fascism during the Second World War - in spite of having once belonged to the British Fascisti himself. He was known to his agents and colleagues simply as M, and was rumoured to be part of the inspiration for the character M in the James Bond series. Knight became a legendary spymaster despite an almost total lack of qualifications. What set him apart from his peers was a mercurial ability to transform almost anyone into a fearless secret agent. He was the first in MI5 to grasp the potential of training female agents. M is about more than just one man however. In its pages, Hemming reveals for the first time in print the names and stories of seven men and women recruited by Knight, on behalf of MI5, and then asked to infiltrate the most dangerous political organizations in Britain at that time. Until now, their identities have been kept secret outside MI5.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arrow","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":34074296811651,"sku":"9781784752040","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9781784752040.jpg?v=1610357028"},{"product_id":"open-secret","title":"Open Secret: The Autobiography of the Former Director-General of MI5","description":"\u003cp\u003eStella Rimington was educated at Nottingham Girls' High School, and Edinburgh and Liverpool Universities. In 1959 she started work in the Worcestershire County Archives, moving in 1962 to the India Office Library in London, as Assistant Keeper responsible for manuscripts relating to the period of the British rule in India. In 1965 she joined the Security Service (MI5) part-time, while she was in India accompanying her husband on a posting to the British High Commission in New Delhi. On her return to the UK she joined MI5 as a full-time employee. During her career in MI5, which lasted from 1969 to 1996, Stella Rimington worked in all the main fields of the Service's responsibilities - counter-subversion, counter-espionage and counter-terrorism - and became successively Director of all three branches. She was appointed Director-General of MI5 in 1992. She was the first woman to hold the post and the first Director-General whose name was publicly announced on appointment. During her time as DG she pursued a policy of greater openness for MI5.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arrow","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":34074322370691,"sku":"9780099436720","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9780099436720.jpg?v=1610364236"},{"product_id":"the-secret-world-a-history-of-intelligence-1","title":"The Secret World: A History of Intelligence","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe history of espionage is far older than any of today's intelligence agencies, yet the long history of intelligence operations has been largely forgotten. The first mention of espionage in world literature is in the Book of Exodus. 'God sent out spies into the land of Canaan'.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom there, Christopher Andrew traces the shift in the ancient world from divination to what we would recognize as attempts to gather real intelligence in the conduct of military operations, and considers how far ahead of the West - at that time - China and India were. He charts the development of intelligence and security operations and capacity through, amongst others, Renaissance Venice, Elizabethan England, Revolutionary America, Napoleonic France, right up to sophisticated modern activities of which he is the world's best-informed interpreter. What difference have security and intelligence operations made to course of history? Why have they so often forgotten by later practitioners? This fascinating book provides the answers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":34282926080131,"sku":"9780140285321","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9780140285321.jpg?v=1613481414"},{"product_id":"women-in-intelligence-1","title":"Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World Wars","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA groundbreaking history of women in British intelligence, revealing their pivotal role across the first half of the twentieth century From the twentieth century onward, women took on an extraordinary range of roles in intelligence, defying the conventions of their time. Across both world wars, far from being a small part of covert operations, women ran spy networks and escape lines, parachuted behind enemy lines, and interrogated prisoners. And, back in Bletchley and Whitehall, women's vital administrative work in MI offices kept the British war engine running.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn this major, panoramic history, Helen Fry looks at the rich and varied work women undertook as civilians and in uniform. From spies in the Belgian network \"La Dame Blanche,\" knitting coded messages into jumpers, to those who interpreted aerial images and even ran entire sections, Fry shows just how crucial women were in the intelligence mission. Filled with hitherto unknown stories, Women in Intelligence places new research on record for the first time and showcases the inspirational contributions of these remarkable women.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Yale University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44618311762051,"sku":"9780300279313","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9780300279313_5330e867-5681-4ba4-a6da-9bf68b4aa1a1.jpg?v=1722252710"},{"product_id":"her-secret-service-the-forgotten-women-of-british-intelligence","title":"Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro',sans-serif; color: #1a1a1a; background: white;\"\u003eSince the inception of the Secret Service Bureau back in 1909, women have worked at the very heart of British secret intelligence - yet their contributions have been all but written out of history. Now, drawing on private and previously-classified documents, leading historian Claire Hubbard-Hall brings their gripping true stories to life. From encoding orders and decrypting enemy messages to penning propaganda and infiltrating organisations, the women of British intelligence played a pivotal role in both the First and Second World Wars.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro',sans-serif; color: #1a1a1a;\"\u003e\u003cbr style=\"font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003e\u003cbr style=\"font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background: white;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003ePrepare to meet the true custodians of Britain's military secrets, from Kathleen Pettigrew, personal assistant to the Chief of MI6 Stewart Menzies, who late in life declared 'I was Miss Moneypenny, but with more power', to Jane Archer, the very first female MI5 officer who raised suspicions about the Soviet spy Kim Philby long before he was officially unmasked and Winifred Spink, the first female officer ever sent to Russia in 1916. In Her Secret Service, Hubbard-Hall rescues these silenced voices and those of many other fascinating women from obscurity to provide a definitive account of women's contributions to the history of the intelligence services.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Weidenfeld \u0026 Nicolson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44929866596483,"sku":"9781399603430","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9781399603430.jpg?v=1729530930"},{"product_id":"operation-chiffon-the-secret-story-of-mi5-and-mi6-and-the-road-to-peace-in-ireland-1","title":"Operation Chiffon: The Secret Story of MI5 and MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeter Taylor tells for the first time the gripping story of Operation Chiffon, MI5's top-secret intelligence operation that helped bring peace to Ireland. April 1998: the Good Friday Agreement is signed, ending decades of violence and bloodshed in Northern Ireland. The process of getting the IRA to end its so-called 'armed struggle' was always the prerequisite of the search for peace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was Operation Chiffon that finally helped make it possible. Operation Chiffon takes us inside the top-secret intelligence operation whose roots go back to the bloodiest years of the conflict in the early 1970s, involving officers from MI6 and, later in the 1990s, MI5. The remarkable story, which has remained hidden for forty years, is now revealed by legendary BBC journalist Peter Taylor with unique access to the officers involved.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on exclusive interviews and Taylor's fifty years of covering the conflict, the book narrates in first-hand detail how those involved risked their careers - and their lives - to help secure the fragile peace that exists today. Taylor vividly brings this covert operation to life and in the process chronicles the history of Sinn Fein, rising from obscurity in the early days of the Troubles to becoming the largest political party in Ireland today. It is a story fraught with uncertainty and danger that, as Brexit risks destabilising what was achieved in the Good Friday Agreement, is more important than ever to remember.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55628650447232,"sku":"9781526659644","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9781526659644.jpg?v=1737975913"},{"product_id":"double-cross-the-true-story-of-the-d-day-spies","title":"Double Cross: The True Story of The D-Day Spies","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eD-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the Second World War, was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for a different kind of operation: one of deceit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the heart of the deception was the 'Double Cross System', a team of double agents whose bravery, treachery, greed and inspiration succeeded in convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the 150,000-strong Allied invasion force. Under the direction of an eccentric but brilliant intelligence officer in tartan trousers, working from a smoky lair in St James's, these spies would weave a web of deception so intricate that it ensnared Hitler's army and helped to carry thousands of troops across the Channel in safety.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese double agents were, variously, brave, treacherous, fickle, greedy and inspired. They were not conventional warriors, but their masterpiece of deceit saved countless lives. Their codenames were Bronx, Brutus, Treasure, Tricycle and Garbo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd this is their story.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55830376055168,"sku":"9781526682659","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9781526682659.jpg?v=1743611116"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/collections\/books-about-the-history-of-the-intelligence-services\/mi5.oembed","provider":"The National Archives Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}