The Secret History of MI6: 1909-1949

Keith Jeffery

Penguin Group US, Sep 21, 2010 - History - 832 pages

"Jeffery's book is perhaps the most authentic account one will ever read about how intelligence really works." --The Washington Times

Britain 's Special Intelligence Service, commonly called MI6, is not only the oldest and most storied foreign intelligence unit in the world-it is also the only one to open its archives to an outside researcher. The result, in this authorized history, is an unprecedented and revelatory look at an organization that essentially created, over the course of two world wars, the modern craft of spying. Examining innovations from invisible ink and industrial-scale cryptography to dramatic setbacks like the Nazi sting operations to bag British operatives, this groundbreaking history is as engrossing as any thriller-and much more revealing.

What people are saying

Review: The Secret History of MI6

User Review  - Eddy Allen - Goodreads

The authorized history of the world's oldest and most storied foreign intelligence service, drawing extensively on hitherto secret documents. Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (also commonly known ...

Review: The Secret History of MI6

User Review  - Chris - Goodreads

The paperback version says this reads like a script for a spy film. That reviewer has seen some weird spy films. This book majors on the ins and outs of the MI6 bureaucracy and puts most of the interesting bits in a postscript.

About the author

Keith Jeffery is a professor of British history at Queen's University, Belfast, and has written or edited thirteen books.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Secret History of MI6: 1909-1949
• Author: Keith Jeffery
• Publisher: Penguin Group US, 2010
• ISBN: 1101443464, 9781101443460
• Length: 832 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / General; History / Modern / 20th Century