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MI6: Life and Death in the British Secret Service
The story of MI6 is the story of the human factor that lies at the heart of spying. From shadowy work in the bars of post-war Vienna to recent high-tech missions Iraq and Libya, secret agents are forced to play a bewildering variety of roles: as psychiatrists, confidants and interrogators. From the spymasters in London and the agents they run to their elusive enemies, relationships are what drive espionage. These thrilling and often moving stories illustrate the dangers and moral ambiguities that come with working for British intelligence and reveal how the fictional worlds of Bond and le Carré have been drawn from reality and have in turn shaped the real world of spies.
Grand dramas such as the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and the September 11th attacks provide the backdrop for these stories of the men and women who have spied, lied and in some cases died in the service of the state.
Grand dramas such as the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and the September 11th attacks provide the backdrop for these stories of the men and women who have spied, lied and in some cases died in the service of the state.
481 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Gordon Corera
17 books161 followersGordon Corera is a British journalist. He is the Security Correspondent for the BBC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
November 19, 2015
The problem with real spy stories is that spies tell so many lies, you end up wondering what's true and what's not. The first half of this book covers mostly the 1950's and 1960's, during which time there was the major disaster of Kim Philby's defection to the USSR and the realisation that he had betrayed Britain for decades. This led to decades of investigations of possible double agents with the British intelligence services - mostly carried out by the spies on their very own colleagues. The dread hand of the CIA's James Jesus Angleton reached across the Atlantic to further complicate matters - Angleton being the main paranoiac in the CIA & the man who believed there were Soviet moles throughout the CIA, FBI, MI5, MI6 and in almost every secret service in the world. "Paranoia rules" should be motto of secret services everywhere. The 2nd half of the book concentrates on Afghanistan & Iraq and how intelligence from both these countries was misused by politicians and the secret services. It closes out with what is almost an apology for the lies told by US and UK politicians about the mythical Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
October 5, 2016
This was a fairly good book
I had no idea the Brits were so involved in the question of WMD in Iraq
The US media prefers to call george jr a liar.
He may have been an idiot, but I don't think he lied
p382
"the absence of evidence is not absence of evidence"
footnote 96 from press briefing feb 2002
That doesn't make sense
I think I remember it as:
"the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
Proves once again that now days, publishers don't edit books
and even the writer seems not to have read the first draft
a second time.
Just send first draft to printer and start selling as fast as possible
I had no idea the Brits were so involved in the question of WMD in Iraq
The US media prefers to call george jr a liar.
He may have been an idiot, but I don't think he lied
p382
"the absence of evidence is not absence of evidence"
footnote 96 from press briefing feb 2002
That doesn't make sense
I think I remember it as:
"the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
Proves once again that now days, publishers don't edit books
and even the writer seems not to have read the first draft
a second time.
Just send first draft to printer and start selling as fast as possible
March 27, 2013
The exciting title appears to belong to some other book. This book was rambling, disjointed, and not very interesting.
February 8, 2023
An establishment insiders' rambling portrait of Britain's secret service.
If an incisiveness-free, patchworked history of MI6 written in a painfully loud Oxbridge voice sounds like your idea of fun, this is the book you've been looking for. Alternately, if you are after a British equivalent to the masterful Legacy of Ashes, steer well clear. The Art of Betrayal scores close to a zero on tying the development of British Intelligence into any kind of social or political context. Instead the author hones in on his personal interests: mainly novelists, mixed with a rather pathetic "best days of our life" yearning for university life, while data-dumping his research, which consists mostly of pedantic, irrelevant details.
If an incisiveness-free, patchworked history of MI6 written in a painfully loud Oxbridge voice sounds like your idea of fun, this is the book you've been looking for. Alternately, if you are after a British equivalent to the masterful Legacy of Ashes, steer well clear. The Art of Betrayal scores close to a zero on tying the development of British Intelligence into any kind of social or political context. Instead the author hones in on his personal interests: mainly novelists, mixed with a rather pathetic "best days of our life" yearning for university life, while data-dumping his research, which consists mostly of pedantic, irrelevant details.
July 7, 2021
This does not purport to be a comprehensive history of MI6 but it covers the ground from post-wr Vienna into the Cold War and Russian agents/defectors on into the post 9-11 world. Interface with politicians is covered well, including with Thatcher and the Gordievsky product and with Blair ahead of the war in Iraq.
February 2, 2026
This was an interesting read, with the author having been involved in the field throughout much of his career as a journalist. The research was solid, and well informed, with his focus reflecting the availability of people to discuss this. In many ways he's managed to maintain balance, recognising the challenge of sourcing where people have their own relationships and reputations.
The extensive discussion of contemporary challenges, placed in the historic context of a service emerging from the Second World War, was extremely valuable, as was the discussion of the UK and US involvement in Afghanistan during the Russian actions. Sadly, not much on contemporary Afghanistan, appreciating that this was written whilst NATO operations were ongoing.
In terms of content, it felt a little shorter than I'd anticipated, and there are big gaps around Operation Corporate, the retaking of the Falkland Islands, when there is some well documented history of the service.
Overall, recommended
The extensive discussion of contemporary challenges, placed in the historic context of a service emerging from the Second World War, was extremely valuable, as was the discussion of the UK and US involvement in Afghanistan during the Russian actions. Sadly, not much on contemporary Afghanistan, appreciating that this was written whilst NATO operations were ongoing.
In terms of content, it felt a little shorter than I'd anticipated, and there are big gaps around Operation Corporate, the retaking of the Falkland Islands, when there is some well documented history of the service.
Overall, recommended
September 6, 2014
This was very enjoyable to read and I learned a lot of new things. The book rattles along and charts the period from the end of the second world war through to the present. Stuffed full of interesting anecdotes about people and an organisation that is by turns impressive and then absurd.
I hadn’t realised, for instance, the extent of British involvement in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. Apparently the CIA weren’t allowed to send personnel in, but the book strongly implies MI6 were very busy on sabotage missions and organising assassinations. Also of interest is the level of what looks to be mental illness amongst double agents though there is the question of whether one is mentally ill to begin with, or whether the activity drives you over the edge. Perhaps a bit of both. The agents’ handlers would often face a hard time looking after their charges. Oleg Penkovsky was given US and UK army officers uniforms to wear, clearly in order for him to feel important, when he was debriefed. (UK complained the US had given him one with medals which looked better than the one they were offering).
I also realised for the first time quite how important Oleg Gordievsky had been, not because he gave info on numbers of tanks and planes etc, but because he could tell the West what the Soviet leadership’s views were. In the early 1980s they really did come close to believing that NATO was going to launch a pre-emptive strike. Once that was understood Thatcher and Reagan pulled back on the rhetoric.
Perhaps the KGB should have just upped their surveillance on anyone called Oleg.
Obviously it is difficult with a book like this to know precisely how accurate some of the detail is and I’m sure a lot of it will be modified over time as more information comes out.
I hadn’t realised, for instance, the extent of British involvement in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. Apparently the CIA weren’t allowed to send personnel in, but the book strongly implies MI6 were very busy on sabotage missions and organising assassinations. Also of interest is the level of what looks to be mental illness amongst double agents though there is the question of whether one is mentally ill to begin with, or whether the activity drives you over the edge. Perhaps a bit of both. The agents’ handlers would often face a hard time looking after their charges. Oleg Penkovsky was given US and UK army officers uniforms to wear, clearly in order for him to feel important, when he was debriefed. (UK complained the US had given him one with medals which looked better than the one they were offering).
I also realised for the first time quite how important Oleg Gordievsky had been, not because he gave info on numbers of tanks and planes etc, but because he could tell the West what the Soviet leadership’s views were. In the early 1980s they really did come close to believing that NATO was going to launch a pre-emptive strike. Once that was understood Thatcher and Reagan pulled back on the rhetoric.
Perhaps the KGB should have just upped their surveillance on anyone called Oleg.
Obviously it is difficult with a book like this to know precisely how accurate some of the detail is and I’m sure a lot of it will be modified over time as more information comes out.
January 15, 2017
Very interesting history of the spy game in the U.K. (And by extension the US) after WWII. Well written, sometime complex especially in the sections of Afghanistan but the story of the WMD and the push to war with Iraq were fascinating and very telling. I learned a lot that I had not known.
January 18, 2015
very informative
June 12, 2020
Gordon Corera has been the BBC’s Security correspondent for several years, which has afforded him considerable insight into the workings of the various agencies that make up the British intelligence service. In this book he offers a history of the major incidents and campaigns from the end of the Second World War until the ‘War on Terror’ following the 9//11 attacks in 2001.
Of course, with any book such as this, one is prompted to wonder how much has been left out, and what enticing and salacious stories have been left untold. Much of the material that Corera has included was already familiar to me (the world of espionage, whether in fact or fiction, having always caught my imagination), but his accounts are very clear (as one would expect from a veteran journalist) and accessible.
There were certainly some pretty dreadful howlers for the intelligence services, and MI6 in particular, throughout the period covered by Corera’s book. One problem is that, by their very nature, successful operations will not draw any media attention. Sadly, the failures garner all too much coverage. Some names, such as Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, and John Vassall have now become synonymous with treachery. Looming largest among this roll of traitors is Harold ‘Kim’ Philby, who penetrated to significant heights within MI6, and seemed somehow able to stay in a position of sensitivity long after the security establishment had largely determined his guilt, even though there was insufficient (or, at least, insufficiently robust) evidence to support prosecution. Such a trail of disasters led almost to a sense of relief, or at least Schadenfreude, when traitors were also discovered to have penetrated MI6’s American counterparts.
The ‘establishment’ was clearly not above entering into a conspiracy of silence when it came to potentially embarrassing revelations. It was not until the publication of Andrew Boyle’s The Climate of Treason in 1979 that there was any acknowledgement that Anthony Blunt, respected academic, Director of the Courtauld Institute and sometime ‘Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures’ had confessed to being the fourth member of the so-called Cambridge spy circle. Her had confessed some sixteen years earlier, but was allowed to retain his public status and positions, as well as his knighthood, which was only withdrawn following the outcry after the publication of Boyle’s book.
In fact, there has been a substantial history of acknowledgements only being prompted by the publication of journalists’ books, although these have sometimes strewn more confusion than fact. During the mid-1980s the UK Government entered into lengthy, expensive and ultimately unsuccessful litigation to prevent publication of Spycatcher, the memoirs of Peter Wright, a disaffected former member of MI6. As so often with works that provoke such a pre-publication storm, the book itself proved disappointing when it actually hit the shops. (I remember buying my copy from Collet’s, the left wing bookstore on Charing Cross Road, which was selling it quite openly during the period that it was supposedly banned.) Wright’s principal allegations were that Roger Hollis, former head of the service had been a ‘mole’, betraying important secrets to the KGB throughout his career, and that MI5 had consistently worked to undermine the government of Harold Wilson in the belief that he, too, was either a Soviet agent or had allowed himself to fall prey to undue influence from the Soviet Union. None of these claims were adequately substantiated throughout the pages of Spycatcher, and are not assigned much emphasis by Corera here.
This is overwhelmingly a story about men, with women playing very little part in the work of agents and officers. While the marvellous gadgetry and high living that proliferate throughout the James bond books were entirely fanciful, the rampant male chauvinism was not. For the most part, female members of MI6 were confined to secretarial roles. One notable exception was Daphne park, who led an adventurous career largely in Africa, where she presided over MI6’s observation (and participation) of the meteoric rise, and almost equally rapid demise, of Patrice Lumumba, who briefly held office in the newly-independent Congo. That whole episode does not reflect well on either MI6 or the CIA, although Park emerges as a courageous, empathetic and honest figure, who earned the respect of the Congolese with whom she came into contact, even to the extent that, unbeknown to her, a local chief despatched warriors to stand guard around her home while post-Independence riots raged around the country.
Corera may not have any startling new revelations to offer in this book, but it is an impressive addition to the espionage history canon.
Of course, with any book such as this, one is prompted to wonder how much has been left out, and what enticing and salacious stories have been left untold. Much of the material that Corera has included was already familiar to me (the world of espionage, whether in fact or fiction, having always caught my imagination), but his accounts are very clear (as one would expect from a veteran journalist) and accessible.
There were certainly some pretty dreadful howlers for the intelligence services, and MI6 in particular, throughout the period covered by Corera’s book. One problem is that, by their very nature, successful operations will not draw any media attention. Sadly, the failures garner all too much coverage. Some names, such as Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, and John Vassall have now become synonymous with treachery. Looming largest among this roll of traitors is Harold ‘Kim’ Philby, who penetrated to significant heights within MI6, and seemed somehow able to stay in a position of sensitivity long after the security establishment had largely determined his guilt, even though there was insufficient (or, at least, insufficiently robust) evidence to support prosecution. Such a trail of disasters led almost to a sense of relief, or at least Schadenfreude, when traitors were also discovered to have penetrated MI6’s American counterparts.
The ‘establishment’ was clearly not above entering into a conspiracy of silence when it came to potentially embarrassing revelations. It was not until the publication of Andrew Boyle’s The Climate of Treason in 1979 that there was any acknowledgement that Anthony Blunt, respected academic, Director of the Courtauld Institute and sometime ‘Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures’ had confessed to being the fourth member of the so-called Cambridge spy circle. Her had confessed some sixteen years earlier, but was allowed to retain his public status and positions, as well as his knighthood, which was only withdrawn following the outcry after the publication of Boyle’s book.
In fact, there has been a substantial history of acknowledgements only being prompted by the publication of journalists’ books, although these have sometimes strewn more confusion than fact. During the mid-1980s the UK Government entered into lengthy, expensive and ultimately unsuccessful litigation to prevent publication of Spycatcher, the memoirs of Peter Wright, a disaffected former member of MI6. As so often with works that provoke such a pre-publication storm, the book itself proved disappointing when it actually hit the shops. (I remember buying my copy from Collet’s, the left wing bookstore on Charing Cross Road, which was selling it quite openly during the period that it was supposedly banned.) Wright’s principal allegations were that Roger Hollis, former head of the service had been a ‘mole’, betraying important secrets to the KGB throughout his career, and that MI5 had consistently worked to undermine the government of Harold Wilson in the belief that he, too, was either a Soviet agent or had allowed himself to fall prey to undue influence from the Soviet Union. None of these claims were adequately substantiated throughout the pages of Spycatcher, and are not assigned much emphasis by Corera here.
This is overwhelmingly a story about men, with women playing very little part in the work of agents and officers. While the marvellous gadgetry and high living that proliferate throughout the James bond books were entirely fanciful, the rampant male chauvinism was not. For the most part, female members of MI6 were confined to secretarial roles. One notable exception was Daphne park, who led an adventurous career largely in Africa, where she presided over MI6’s observation (and participation) of the meteoric rise, and almost equally rapid demise, of Patrice Lumumba, who briefly held office in the newly-independent Congo. That whole episode does not reflect well on either MI6 or the CIA, although Park emerges as a courageous, empathetic and honest figure, who earned the respect of the Congolese with whom she came into contact, even to the extent that, unbeknown to her, a local chief despatched warriors to stand guard around her home while post-Independence riots raged around the country.
Corera may not have any startling new revelations to offer in this book, but it is an impressive addition to the espionage history canon.
November 21, 2021
Unui fost ofițer al MI6, unul dintre puținii care au ajuns la statutul de „C“* sau de șef al Serviciului, îi place să își reamintească de o poveste. Având în fundal o colecție de romane de-ale lui John le Carré, aflate pe rafturile din spatele său, o deapănă cu un zâmbet ștrengăresc și cu un licăr jucăuș în ochi, sugerând o vioiciune a spiritului pe care nu și-a pierdut-o odată cu înaintarea în vârstă. Povestea este despre un tânăr ofițer care își croiește drum spre o colibă, undeva în Africa. Este prima legătură pe care o stabilește MI6 cu șeful unui trib local, al cărui ajutor este necesar într-o incursiune ale cărei detalii exacte s-au pierdut în negura timpului. Ofițerul nu era sigur cât de bine avea să fie primit și de cât de receptiv avea să se dovedească șeful de trib la solicitarea sa. Nici măcar nu era sigur dacă acesta știa vreo boabă de engleză. Dar precautele cuvinte de prezentare ale ofițerului au fost întâmpinate cu un zâmbet larg. S-a dovedit că șeful de trib cunoștea trei cuvinte. „Bună, domnule Bond“, a spus înainte să dea mâna cu el și să-i ofere ajutorul. „Mă îndoiesc că ar fi fost primit cu atâta căldură dacă ar fi fost de la serviciile secrete belgiene“, îmi explică fostul șef din cadrul Serviciului Secret Britanic, cu o oarecare mândrie și fără vreo intenție de a jigni Belgia sau pe spionii săi. Fie că este adevărată, fie că nu – și, după cum se întâmplă în majoritatea poveștilor cu spioni, trebuie să fii circumspect, povestea ilustrează felul în care legendele despre Serviciul Secret Britanic s-au răspândit până departe și modul în care faptele și ficțiunea s-au întrepătruns într-atât încât uneori cele două au devenit imposibil de deosebit în percepția publică (și, uneori, și în cea a profesioniștilor din domeniu). La acest proces a contribuit misterul de care s-a înconjurat Serviciul Secret Britanic în mare parte din cei 100 de ani de istorie. Sarcina Serviciului Secret de Informații (SIS) ‒ sau, ca să utilizăm numele mai cunoscut, MI6 ‒ este de a fura secretele altora. Însă pe ale sale și le-a protejat cu ferocitate. În mare parte a existenței sale, misterul a fost atât de bine păstrat încât MI6 nici măcar nu exista.
Cel puțin, nu oficial. Cei aflați la putere erau instruiți să nu sufle o vorbă despre asta. Pe culoarele din Whitehall, despre șeful serviciului se vorbea în șoaptă folosindu-se apelativul „C“, și doar unii aveau ocazia să vadă din când în când câte o notiță mâzgălită cu atât de caracteristica sa cerneală verde. Însă lumea din afară nu i-a știut niciodată numele.
Cel puțin, nu oficial. Cei aflați la putere erau instruiți să nu sufle o vorbă despre asta. Pe culoarele din Whitehall, despre șeful serviciului se vorbea în șoaptă folosindu-se apelativul „C“, și doar unii aveau ocazia să vadă din când în când câte o notiță mâzgălită cu atât de caracteristica sa cerneală verde. Însă lumea din afară nu i-a știut niciodată numele.
July 31, 2020
A really good book with a terrible title. This is actually a richly detailed, extremely thoughtful and incredibly readable account of MI6 from after WW2, up to 2011. I read it straight through in a couple of days.
Corera has been the Security Correspondent for the BBC since 2004, and his depth of knowledge is obvious. This is not an exhaustive history, though. Each chapter covers a particular time and place that Corera thinks was critical, and focuses on key people like the extraordinary Daphne Park, who was MI6 head of station in the Congo when the country became independent, or Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB defector who helped to shape the end of the Cold War. This approach lets Corera tell gripping stories, whilst drawing out larger themes. It also lets him maintain a balanced view: he is sympathetic to almost all of the people that he depicts, even the very flawed ones, whilst being extremely clear about the dubious motives and many failures that run throughout MI6 history.
Corera has been the Security Correspondent for the BBC since 2004, and his depth of knowledge is obvious. This is not an exhaustive history, though. Each chapter covers a particular time and place that Corera thinks was critical, and focuses on key people like the extraordinary Daphne Park, who was MI6 head of station in the Congo when the country became independent, or Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB defector who helped to shape the end of the Cold War. This approach lets Corera tell gripping stories, whilst drawing out larger themes. It also lets him maintain a balanced view: he is sympathetic to almost all of the people that he depicts, even the very flawed ones, whilst being extremely clear about the dubious motives and many failures that run throughout MI6 history.
August 17, 2022
Written by Gordon Corera, Security Correspondent for BBC News, THE ART OF BETRAYAL provides a unique and unprecedented insight into this secret world and the reality that lies behind the fiction. It tells the story of how the secret service has changed since the end of World War II and by focusing on the people and the relationships that lie at the heart of espionage, revealing the danger, the drama, the intrigue, the moral ambiguities and the occasional comedy that comes with working for British intelligence. From the defining period of the early Cold War through to the modern day, MI6 has undergone a dramatic transformation from a gung-ho, amateurish organisation to its modern, no less controversial, incarnation.
July 14, 2024
This book offers a gripping and detailed account of the intricate world of British intelligence, shedding light on the secretive operations and the personal sacrifices of those involved. With thorough research and engaging storytelling, it provides a fascinating look at the history and evolution of MI6.
August 3, 2018
This book suffered from a split focus. While it claimed to be a history of the British secret service, it by necessity focused on the CIA as well. This make a more difficult narrative and, even though some sections were good, bogged the overall book down.
September 5, 2023
Solid history of what MI6 has been getting up to since the end of WWII from an author well placed to gain plenty of insights and looks behind the curtain. Nothing much here that was entirely new to me, but a few intriguing details here and there and overall a good overview.
March 22, 2020
Great detail and eye opening history
July 17, 2020
Lots of interesting information, but presented rather dryly.
August 29, 2020
Good overall
Very good overall with a more up to date workings of MI6 than most other books. Everyone should read it.
Very good overall with a more up to date workings of MI6 than most other books. Everyone should read it.
January 3, 2021
Covers a lot but I found it interesting since I knew almost nothing about the history of MI6/MI5 and the prelude to the war in Iraq.
August 14, 2021
Fascinating. Seemed to have some inconsistencies, though!
August 8, 2022
Good book
yet not as truthful as it could be, never relating big illicit flows and assassinations to intelligence services.
There are better books for such in-depth accounts.
yet not as truthful as it could be, never relating big illicit flows and assassinations to intelligence services.
There are better books for such in-depth accounts.
September 9, 2022
Tough reading... Often boring and sometimes too complicated for me...
November 25, 2023
The book details multiple operations and missions conducted by MI6. The book shed lights on operations that are known and not well known. Amazing read
August 13, 2024
A detailed but readable survey of British intelligence since the war, well-sourced and very credible. Recommended.
May 26, 2025
Extremely interesting and well-done. An exhausting, fascinating history of M16 and other related organisations. Puts many historical happenings into perspective with their background stories.
January 22, 2026
Excellent history of MI6 from 1946 - 2005. Highly recommend this.
February 24, 2019
I am by no means a fan of spies, but I loved this book. Something about the writing made me see the entire world of espionage with new eyes.
February 16, 2021
I enjoyed it. More the earlier years. Reading of Daphne Park was an eye-opener. They made of film of T. E. Lawrence and his exploits. She deserves as much. There’s talk in here of missions, both successes and failures. And mention of the strengths and weaknesses: the gentleman’s club: the old school tie. But also, I believe it shows how British Intelligence tried to play by the rules and not resort to the ways of a criminal cabal.
March 14, 2017
Fascinating story about the British spy agencies, MI 5 and MI 6, with insights into the US CIA. This is the stuff that spy novels attempt to bring to life. In fact some of the novelists actually were involved in these secret spy agencies. Doesn't do a lot to encourage one to think that these services are always right in their info and assessments. In fact they are frequently way off. Nonetheless this is a very interesting book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews