Richard Tomlinson was recruited initially by MI6, the British foreign intelligence service, during his senior year at Cambridge University. In these memoirs, he claims to have quickly gained the trust and confidence of one of the world's most effective intelligence organizations, and that he was relied on to smuggle nuclear secrets out of Moscow. Tomlinson also writes that he ran an undercover operation in Sarajevo while the city was under siege, and infiltrated and dismantled a criminal group that sought to export chemical weapons capabilities to Iran. Four years after joining MI6, Tomlinson's career was abruptly halted. Attempting to fight a case for unjust dismissal, Tomlinson was arrested for breaking the Official Secrets Act and imprisoned. He was subsequently released.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By WhiteCrane
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I loved it. There are 2 main parts to this book. First Tomlinsons recruitment,training and operations as an mi6 officer. Secondly his sacking and subsequent conflict with mi6. This second part(the final 1/3 of the book) didn't interest me. We outsiders don't know the reason for his sacking,we'd need to hear both sides of the story. The interesting part for me was the description of mi6 structure and organization in the 1990s(I'd read books describing mi6 structure from the 50s and 60s but this was the most up to date from an insider), the 6 month training course as well as operations. The mi6 officers he names are obviously pseudonyms but many were name in the infamous internet list(including the personnel officer hated by Tomlinson). Tomlinson denied being responsible for it and some commentators said it was flawed. As the number of MI6 officers writing books about current events doesn't happen every day,I recommend it,judge for yourself.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Nearly everything the public knows about spies is fiction. But Richard Tomlinson worked for the MI6 until he was fired for unknown reasons. According to the author, MI6 hunted him down all over the planet when he following tried to write an autobiography. They used and abused their connections with foreign intelligence services for intimidation purposes, stole his equipment, and had him imprisoned for several months. When the book was in the press despite MI6's vast efforts to prevent it, they took legal action to ban it. They failed spectacularly, and "The Big Breach" became freely available. Contrary to what many would believe, no government secrets are exposed in the book, and the few descriptions of MI6's working methods can surprise no one. The really interesting aspects of the book are an intriguing claim about a top UK politician, secret Serb donations to a British political party, and the degree of unfair treatment by the MI6, combined with alleged incompetence in personnel management. Countless claims and counterclaims have been made about the book. One such claim is that the Russian publisher is really a cover for what was formerly known as KGB, and that they have written sections of the book. An obvious counterclaim is that the MI6 have orchestrated a smear campaign to discredit the book and its author. Whatever the truth, here's a spy story that is as close to reality as we'll probably ever get.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Lutobar
Format:Paperback
The first half is full of titillating (although by now surely out-of date)detail about the inner-workings of MI6. The second half is Tomlinson's justification for this gratuitous spilling of the beans, which is that in spite of being quite literally the best recruit they'd ever had, MI6 personnel decided to sack him for unknown but certainly trumped-up reasons. His account of how he was persecuted by MI6 merely for wanting to have his dismissal looked at by an employment tribunal is a drawn-out martyrdom. His only way of hitting back is to write a best-selling book.
Is it true? That is anyone's guess, but anyone who can write as well as this is capable of fabrication, and to me his story of consummate hero to utter zero looks too good (or bad) to be true. The self-justification becomes tiresome. There is obviously more to this than meets the eye; those who could enlighten us cannot.
Is it true? That is anyone's guess, but anyone who can write as well as this is capable of fabrication, and to me his story of consummate hero to utter zero looks too good (or bad) to be true. The self-justification becomes tiresome. There is obviously more to this than meets the eye; those who could enlighten us cannot.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book gives a glimpse of MI6
This book reads easily and is never boring. I like the way he describes (with great humor) some events that he had experienced.
I wonder what he's doing nowadays.
I wonder what he's doing nowadays.
Published 2 months ago by Maarten Pronk
4.0 out of 5 stars
riveting
This is a well written, revealing account of M16, in the days when the agency was still mired in the self defeating secrecy of the Cold War. Read more
Published 10 months ago by ron yeats
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weak plot
The book was not particularly interesting. There was more than a little self promotion in order to build a character that the reader was asked to symathise with and this tainted... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2006 by Anonymous, for good reason
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting read
There's no doubt Mr. Tomlinson is an intelligent, articulate man who writes very well. The book is evenly paced with a lot of interesting events and details. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2005
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Big MI6 Breach.
Richard Tomlinson is an ordinary bloke in an ordinary world, he is highly intelligent and so gets admitted to Cambridge university, there he studies engineering and has a sought... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2004
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tomlinson was born to be a spy, or so he thinks....
According to this book, Tomlinson was born to be a spy and work at MI6. Nothing else would stimluate his enormous brain enough. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2002 by paulcurrid@hotmail.com
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another White Elephant
Tomlinson's book confirms much of what those who have previously read Rusbridger's "The Intelligence Game" might have suspected: here is a world composed largely of incompetent and... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2001
1.0 out of 5 stars
Says more about the author than MI6
... Those who would have been the first to doubt Tomlinson's word while he was working for MI6 fall over themselves to accept it when he has left. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2001
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shocking to think this really happened!
I have just finished the book desparately wanting to meet Richard Tomlinson and spend a good few hours discussing the contents of this book. Read more
Published on 2 July 2001 by Tobin Sinclair
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Story of Suspense and Persecution
A great read if you have some spare time and are interested in the Intelligence Services. Richard doesn't whine about MI6 until about page 200, so there is a lot more to the book... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2001
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