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Secret Wars: One Hundred Years of British Intelligence Inside MI5 and MI6 Hardcover – 17 Mar 2009

by Gordon Thomas (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars 8 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 430 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1 edition (17 Mar. 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312379986
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312379988
  • Product Dimensions: 16.4 x 3.9 x 24.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,398,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"A rollicking good read." --"NPR" "[A] fascinating cast of moles and double agents, whistle-blowers and politicians. For the ambience of the closed world that inspired James Bond and George Smiley, this book is a winner." --"Publishers Weekly""" "[In] his rollicking, readable new history of Britain's famous spy organizations...Thomas builds one fast-paced anecdote upon another, often yielding surprising insights." --"Los Angeles Times" "Authoritative history of Britain’s spy services by a veteran who has been writing about “the Great Game” for 50 years [and a] well-written page-turner that demystifies the notoriously foggy “wilderness of mirrors.”" "--Kirkus Reviews """ "Thomas brings to the agencies' histories a high level of expertise, a fluent style accessible to lay reader and expert alike, and a combination of frankness and balance about some of his subjects' less glorious chapters." --"Bookl

"A rollicking good read." --"NPR" "[A] fascinating cast of moles and double agents, whistle-blowers and politicians. For the ambience of the closed world that inspired James Bond and George Smiley, this book is a winner." --"Publishers Weekly""" "[In] his rollicking, readable new history of Britain's famous spy organizations...Thomas builds one fast-paced anecdote upon another, often yielding surprising insights." --"Los Angeles Times" "Authoritative history of Britain's spy services by a veteran who has been writing about "the Great Game" for 50 years [and a] well-written page-turner that demystifies the notoriously foggy "wilderness of mirrors."" "--Kirkus Reviews """ "Thomas brings to the agencies' histories a high level of expertise, a fluent style accessible to lay reader and expert alike, and a combination of frankness and balance about some of his subjects' less glorious chapters." --"Booklist" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

GORDON THOMAS is a bestselling author of forty books published worldwide, including many on the international intelligence community. His awards include the Citizens Commission for Human Rights Lifetime Achievement Award for Investigative Journalism, the Mark Twain Society Award for Reporting Excellence, and an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Investigation. He lives in London. You can visit him online at www.gordonthomas-author.com.

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsA difficult read
By Orangutan on 14 Aug. 2011
Format: Hardcover
This has to be the most poorly edited book I've ever read. It's structure is all over the place - jumping around, introducing endless lists of names who appear and then disappear never to be mentioned again, spanning continents decades and different agencies all within a few pages. It also has large chunks of the book devoted to topics nothing to do with the history of MI5 or MI6 - there's chapters worth of material on the CIA, sometimes with tenuous links to the UK, and often with no obvious reason for inclusion.

The IRA mainland bombing campaign (surely a main area of MI5 operation?) are largely passed over. The 7-7 bombings are afforded half a sentence - despite being arguably the most significant attack on mainland Britain since the war, and involving both MI5 and MI6 to a great extent. There is also no mention of extra-ordinary rendition and secret service complicity in torture. There is however an entire chapter focused on 9-11 and another on the US embassy bombings - which gives the impression (pervasive throughout the book) that this has been written by an expert on US intelligence, and everything has to be seen through the prism of America and relations to the CIA.

There is also a ridiculous level of detail at times - we learn that spy chief Rimington changed her contraceptive in the 1970s because she was suffering from blotchy skin - and are reassured that this problem then cleared up. This is not linked to anything else, it's just dropped in their for no reason. Who cares? And yet this is afforded more analysis than the 7-7 bombings!

It's quite an achievement to take a fascinating subject, with fascinating stories and create such a poor book. I've given it 3 stars because buried amongst the dross are some really interesting tales and insights - it's simply that you have to work hard to find them.
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1.0 out of 5 starsComplete Rubbish
By Andrew Lownie on 3 July 2009
Format: Hardcover
Inside British Intelligence is described by its publisher as "the definitive and up-to-date history of two of the oldest and most powerful secret services in the world" though it has no source notes, has very little on M15 and M16 before 1990 - and what there is is unfamiliar only because it is often inaccurate - and is largely devoted to the activities of Mossad and CIA .

There is no mention of important British intelligence episodes such as the Zinoviev letter which influenced the outcome of the 1924 election, the breaking of Enigma, the Venlo incident where two SIS officers were captured at the outbreak of war, the Profumo Affair, Buster Crabb, the running of Penkovsky and his role in the Cuban missile crisis and the intelligence services role in Empire. All very curious.

Mr Thomas a self-styled "leading expert on the intelligence community" knows a great deal about what people wore (suits "tailored by Gieves & Hawkes, a hand-sewn shirt with double cuffs and his Travellers Club tie" etc), what they said, thought, ate and drank at particular moments but is less certain in other areas: sometimes Century House is the headquarters of M15 (p.208 and 255) and sometimes correctly M16 (p.286); sometimes Sir Christopher Curwen is head of M15 (p.216)and sometimes rightly M16 (p.195); Vernon Kell is head of MI6(p.421) and sometimes accurately M15(p.78); the M15 chiefs Stella Rimington and Patrick Walker also mysteriously work for M16 (p.177 and p.255). Maybe Mr Thomas knows something we don't?Read more ›
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2.0 out of 5 starsSecret Wars - The Truth
By Mr. Colin Smith on 13 May 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The author's use of the phrase "One Hundred Years of British Intelligence - Inside MI5 andMI6" is totally misleading.
He has selected the parts of this history that he thinks will sell the book, rather than produce a comprehensive
history of the Intelligence Services. That the book is produced for the American Market is evident, in that there
are more pages dedicated to US Security matters than to eg Sir Mansfield Cummings, the first head of SIS. Indeed
there are more pages devoted to the totally disgraced ex MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson, than to Sir Mansfield
Cumming.

A disappointing book on a subject which could and should have produced so much more.
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1.0 out of 5 starsExtremely weak structure
By Matt D. on 11 May 2011
Format: Hardcover
This book is extremely difficult to read due to the absolute lack of structure: the author relentlessly jumps back and forth in the space of just a few sentences. As a reader you're constantly asking yourself: what am I reading and where does this fit into the current chapter / overall content of the book. Provided the author knows what he's talking about (some reviewers debate this) he definitely doesn't know how to communicate it to the reader. Not recommended.
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