Stella 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, giving the 1994 Dimbleby Lecture on BBC TV and several other public lectures and publishing a booklet about the Service. She was made a Dame Commander of the Bath (DCB) in 1995 and has been awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by the Universities of Nottingham and Exeter. Following her retirement from MI5 in 1996, she has become a Non-Executive Director of Marks & Spencer, BG Group plc and Whitehead Mann GKR. She is Chairman of the Institute of Cancer Research and a member of the Board of the Royal Marsden NHS Trust. She has two daughters and a granddaughter. (2002-02-18)
Open Secret
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You have to admire the cheek of Open Secret's author Stella Rimington. After a career spanning 25 years in MI5, during which she was more than happy for the Official Secrets Acts to be used to the government's advantage, she is now outraged that attempts should have been made to block publication of her memoirs and is calling for the act to be reformed. In an extended preface to Open Secret, Rimington writes of her encounter with Cabinet secretary, Sir Richard Wilson, "By the end of an hour or so of being threatened, bullied and cajoled in the more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger way the Establishment behaves to its recalcitrant sons and, as I now know, daughters, I was very shaken". One wonders what else she expected? The thought of any former director-general of MI5 writing his or her memoirs was bound to have disturbed the security services and, compared to many, Rimington got off lightly. But then, whatever else she might think, Rimington is still very much an Establishment woman. She submitted her manuscript for vetting, took out one or two edgy bits, and as she disarmingly points out, there are no revelations about the inner workings of the intelligence services. When she gets to any contentious issues, such as MI5's role in infiltrating CND and breaking the miners' strike, all she has to say is that MI5 never did anything wrong, that that those who say otherwise are conspiracy theorists and that we'll just have to take her word for it because she's right. The portrait that emerges of a bunch of mildly incompetent bureaucrats who wouldn't say boo to a goose does no favours to Rimington or MI5. The books does have its moments, particularly those describing a woman isolated in an almost exclusively male world, but its real significance lies in the fact it was published at all. If the director-general is allowed to go public, there's precious little to stop the MI5 foot soldiers doing likewise. And when they do, the skeletons that Rimington has kept firmly locked in the cupboard might start to come tumbling out. --John Crace
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Was she right to publish? Most certainly. If we are to have a mature attitude to our intelligence services, we need this kind of inside account - it is vital in stripping away mystique and building understanding (Daily Telegraph)
Stella Rimington deserves our thanks for resisting the bullying of the cabinet office and many of her colleagues and associates in Whitehall, and pushing on to publication (New Statesman)
She writes in a refreshingly self-deprecating style of juggling the roles of single parent and chief "spook" (Independent on Sunday)
Stella Rimington deserves our thanks for resisting the bullying of the cabinet office and many of her colleagues and associates in Whitehall, and pushing on to publication (New Statesman)
She writes in a refreshingly self-deprecating style of juggling the roles of single parent and chief "spook" (Independent on Sunday)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By M. Hillmann
Format:Paperback
As the book progressed my disappointment grew at the content. I expect autobiographies of high achieving people who think the world revolves around them to fill the first few chapters with decidedly uninteresting personal history - although my theory that achievement arises from hardship or trauma in childhood - was born out. Stella is interesting about the fear and privations of a wartime child who lived through the blitz in Liverpool and Barrow and about the effects of the first world war injury on her father. But this book never flowered.
Some of the descriptions of the reaction of the KGB on a visit to Moscow post fall of the Berlin Wall are interesting and the difficulties of operating a Security Service in a democracy are thought provoking. Where do you draw the line between acceptable domestic protest and actions designed to undermine democracy and elected government - for example at the time of the miner's strike and Aurthur Scargill versus Maggie Thatcher? Some of the management issues of running and organisation like the MI5, I found interesting. Her complimentary comments on Whitehall and the calibre of civil servants and the difficult job they did were refreshing.
But there is so little about the IRA campaign which clearly became the major preoccupation of the MI5 post Cold War or of the growth of concern of terrorism (although she retired before Al Quaeda hit the headlines).
It is only when you read the Postcript that you realise why it is such an unsatisfactory book. For the ex head of MI5 to write an autobiography was a cause of agonising in Whitehall. The book clearly spent 6 months being circulated in government and civil service circles with everybody cutting out the bit they did not like or they regarded as compromising.
Some of the descriptions of the reaction of the KGB on a visit to Moscow post fall of the Berlin Wall are interesting and the difficulties of operating a Security Service in a democracy are thought provoking. Where do you draw the line between acceptable domestic protest and actions designed to undermine democracy and elected government - for example at the time of the miner's strike and Aurthur Scargill versus Maggie Thatcher? Some of the management issues of running and organisation like the MI5, I found interesting. Her complimentary comments on Whitehall and the calibre of civil servants and the difficult job they did were refreshing.
But there is so little about the IRA campaign which clearly became the major preoccupation of the MI5 post Cold War or of the growth of concern of terrorism (although she retired before Al Quaeda hit the headlines).
It is only when you read the Postcript that you realise why it is such an unsatisfactory book. For the ex head of MI5 to write an autobiography was a cause of agonising in Whitehall. The book clearly spent 6 months being circulated in government and civil service circles with everybody cutting out the bit they did not like or they regarded as compromising.
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I purchased this book after hearing an interview with Ms. Rimington on BBC 4, and I must say, I found her engaging both on the radio and in print. She is a talented writer, whose eventful life--from childhood during the blitz, through her days as a diplomatic wife in India; her experiences as an archivist; and her almost accidental career in MI5 [the old-school-tie male bastion which she penetrated with panache]--is related with considerable charm and humor (essential requirements for being an effective spy).
On the back of the book, under a series of rave blurbs is a negative one by an individual of the male persuasion, whose non-endorsement guaranteed my determination to read the book. And I quote: "The most effective Secret Service is the one which is secret. She should shut up."
Well, that horse was stolen from the barn years ago, and the service that once dared not speak its name has long since--thanks to ex-intelligence officers writing their memoirs right and left--become the service that will not shut up!
Stella Rimington, the intelligent woman who made it to the director-generalship of MI5, adds a refreshing perspective to the male-dominated literature of British intelligence.
On the back of the book, under a series of rave blurbs is a negative one by an individual of the male persuasion, whose non-endorsement guaranteed my determination to read the book. And I quote: "The most effective Secret Service is the one which is secret. She should shut up."
Well, that horse was stolen from the barn years ago, and the service that once dared not speak its name has long since--thanks to ex-intelligence officers writing their memoirs right and left--become the service that will not shut up!
Stella Rimington, the intelligent woman who made it to the director-generalship of MI5, adds a refreshing perspective to the male-dominated literature of British intelligence.
24 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I expected more insight into the workings of MI5 than this book provides. You have to remember when buying this book that this woman has lived a life that is far longer than the time spent in MI5, and well over half of the book is dedicated to that life. Whilst I found it a pleasant read, it wasn't the gripping tale of machinations within MI5 that I'd hoped. I suppose it was only to be expected, as it would never have found it's way to the publishing house if it contained anything meaty about MI5.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite open
Stella Rimington's personal story still leaves a tantalising amount to the imagination: as clear and crisp as all her writing, but curiously lacking in emotion. Read more
Published 29 days ago by Philippa
5.0 out of 5 stars
A splendid autobiography of life inside MI5
I found this totally absorbing and well written. Without giving away too much inside information the reader is able to
savour life in the secret service.
savour life in the secret service.
Published 1 month ago by Margo Fulten
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stella Rimington autobiography
I find her writing style excellent. Her descriptions of both people and situations is so explicit and detailled that it is easy to imagine the reality. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dr. Brian Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars
open secret
Amazing picture of the times and our - womans way of reacting when we were young! Absolutly facinating woman and her life and times.
Published 4 months ago by karen l kratina
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating autobiography
I am not a great reader of boigraphies, but this one is fascinating giving a glimpse behind the scenes of real people in the Security Service. A compelling read!
Published 5 months ago by Kevin's stuff
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life and career of an extraordinary woman in MI5
Excellent - clear and surprisingly candid. I've bought copies to give to friends as I think they'd enjoy it and find it very interesting. Read more
Published 9 months ago by D. Boulter
4.0 out of 5 stars
A 'first' as an autobiography
This is the autobiography of Stella Rimington - the first female head of MI5. She tells her story frankly and thoughtfully, demonstrating both the circumspection of a senior Civil... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Francesca
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stella Rimmington book
I purchased this book for my teenage daughter Who is 14 and curious as to what the real life 'M' actually does day to day for home security and will probably read it too! Read more
Published 10 months ago by Bookworm
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stella Rimington,
A really enjoyable read! It has some obvious gaps in information, but that is to be expected. A record of how a woman, apparently against the odds, rose to the highest ranks of the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Four eyes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dame Stella
A few weeks ago I attended a talk by Dame Stella Rimington in Cambridge. Unfortunately I got there half an hour late, so missed the beginning which would have covered the things I... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Displeased
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