Pre-Owned Defend the Realm : The Authorized History of MI5 (Hardcover) 9780307263636

from BrianHostad

Although a large tome, the book spends too much time on the early part of the operation which I found of less interest then the post war (WW2) stuff. Also the structure whereby, for a period there is an overview of the managment of MI5 followed by specific aspects of their operation leads to some...

from Doey

Chock full of details. Not an easy read,but ultimately rewarding. Must information is obscure to a non-British reader, but the author manages to provide sufficient, although limited, detail to help those of us from across the pond to understand. There are many assumptions in the book that he is w...

from CliffordDorset

It would be naïve to expect a history of an intelligence operation to say everything that ought to be said, even when relating to a time frame for which the principal participants are no longer with us. As this book aims to include the very recent past, as well as relating to the philosophy, stra...

from Eyejaybee

An exhaustive and intriguing history of MI5 for which the author was given extensive access to the agency's archives. I found it fascinating but was often almost overwhelmed by the extraordinary amount of detail that was offered up. However, I am very glad that I read it and would definitely reco...

from john257hopper

This is a scrupulously well researched account of the history of the Security Service MI5 and the operations in which it has been involved. The author has been given access to the great majority of historical files, while forming his own conclusions about the significance of their contents. Inevi...