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SIX: A HISTORY OF BRITAIN’S SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

MICHAEL SMITH

PART 1: MURDER AND MAYHEM 1909–1939

 

A major two-part unauthorised history of Britain’s external intelligence community

The story begins with the creation of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909, charged with controlling intelligence within Britain and overseas. SIX goes on to tell the complete story of the service’s birth and early years. It shows the development of ‘tradecraft’ and the great personal risk officers and their agents took, far from home and unprotected. It also tells of the violence sometimes meted out in the name of king and country. This first volume takes us up to the eve of the Second World War, using hundreds of previously unreleased files and interviews with key players. The second part, published in 2011, will tell the story from the outbreak of the war to the present.

 

480pp Hardback, £19.99

 

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