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The Guy Liddell Diaries: 1939-1942 v. 1 (Hardcover)

by Nigel West (Author) "We reviewed the position generally regarding measures that could be taken now in order to speed up the arrest of cases under Defence of the..." (more)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (4 Feb 2005)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0415352134
ISBN-13: 978-0415352130
Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 389,419 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Review

'This book is a goldmine of once highly secret intelligence material ... no intelligence buff can be without this volume and anyone interested in British twentieth century history needs it too.' - The Spectator

'Regarded by historians as the most important military intelligence documents from the whole of the second world war.' - Irish Independent

'[A] unique insight into the espionage secrets of the Second World War. Its historical importance is enhanced by the editing of Nigel West who, apart from decoding several obscure references to the secret war, persuaded the Security Service to break their rule of maintaining an agent's anonymity.' - BBC History Magazine

'It is a major contribution to the Intelligence history of that war.' - Sunday Telegraph

Product Description

Guy Liddell, MI5's Director of Counter-Espionage, kept a daily diary of events throughout the Second World War, which provide a unique insight into the work of the Security Service.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
We reviewed the position generally regarding measures that could be taken now in order to speed up the arrest of cases under Defence of the Realm Act, Clause 24(c), on the outbreak of war. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Treasure Trove!, 6 Sep 2006

By	F. S. L'hoir (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

The wartime diaries of Guy Liddell represent an invaluable primary source for any scholar investigating the history of British Intelligence during the Second World War. Liddell, who directed Counter-Espionage for MI5, scrupulously jotted down multifarious details of on-going cases, including the continual roundups of Nazi spies and the running of the Double-Cross agents, whose controlled deception of the enemy helped Britain win the war.

Although Liddell's observations in the first volume usually stick to the intelligence business at hand, every once and a while, he briefly depicts daily life in the early days of the war. For instance, on October 15, 1939, he writes of a hysterical woman living somewhere on the east coast of England, who penned a letter complaining about the great number of "dangerous" kites being flown by children. On May 19, 1940, he relates an amusing anecdote (that illustrates the differences of language on either side of the Atlantic) about how the Americans, who had ordered "cots" from Harrods, were surprised when, instead of camp-beds for the army, they received crib-beds for infants. On September 24, 1940, Liddell gives us a glimpse of London of the Blitz, writing that as he was leaving the Reform Club, where he had been dining with Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess, the Luftwaffe dropped incendiary bombs on nearby Pall Mall. Occasionally, a limerick or poem will creep into the diary, but most of the pages are devoted strictly to the serious business of defeating the enemy.

My only reservations about the book concern Nigel West's editing, which has been done with an extremely light touch. Even though he presents a roster of personalities at the beginning of the book, Mr. West is less than informative about the hundreds of personages who appear in Liddell's diaries. BISCUIT, for instance, is identified as the cryptonym for Sam McCarthy, who is then cross-referenced only as BISCUIT (One has to consult another source to discover that Mr. Biscuit was a "reformed crook, drug smuggler, and con man" [Haufler, "The Spies Who Never Were," Penguin, 2006] 30). More and thorough annotations would make the book accessible not only to scholars but also to the interested reader. I also found Mr. West's omission of Kim Philby from the roster of personalities puzzling, since Liddell mentions him in several entries of the diary and even consults him on one occasion. Both Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess (who, like Philby, were later revealed to be unrepentant Soviet agents) are included, being identified as--respectively--"MI5 officer and Guy Liddell's personal assistant" and "Broadcasting expert employed by SIS." One hopes that the omission was accidental and that Mr. West, as an historian, has not voted Philby a damnation of memory. Since Philby was head of counter-espionage in Section V of SIS at the time, he deserves as much recognition as do Blunt and Burgess. One cannot change history by omitting the facts.

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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Secrets that have entranced the intelligence community, 16 Feb 2005

By	Gulliver Ball (London) - See all my reviews

We owe a vote of thanks to Sir Stephen LANDER, the former Director-General of the Security Service (MI5), in whose office safe the original LIDDLE diaries lay, gathering dust.

He recognised their significance and arranged for their release into the public domain. Though MI5's redactions were of a quirky and inconsistent fashion.

Liddle recorded not only the great issues of World War II as seen from the eyes of a man privy to the most secret of state secrets, but the social context of events, too. He did this with knowing and an acerbic wit.

The editor - military historian Nigel WEST - has applied his unique and encyclopaedic knowledge of the world of espionage in a sympathetic and helpful fashion. He has 'filled in the gaps' for the reader by reinstating most of the details redacted by MI5's 'weeders'. National security is not threatened by this - but the reader will be grateful!

The diaries make fascinating reading with revelations and illuminating observations on virtually every page.

West acknowledged the contribution of Thomas CHEPLICK, his researcher, who spent weeks in the National Archives transcribing the diaries. This reader adds his grateful thanks too.

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