Weidenfeld Nicolson Her Secret Service.

by Claire Hubbard-Hall

Since the inception of the Secret Service Bureau back in 1909, women have worked at the very heart of British secret intelligence - yet their contributions have been all but written out of history.

From encoding orders and decrypting enemy messages to penning propaganda and infiltrating organisations, the women of British intelligence played a pivotal role in both the First and Second World Wars. These true custodians of Britain's military secrets include Kathleen Pettigrew, personal assistant to the Chief of MI6 Stewart Menzies, who late in life declared 'I was Miss Moneypenny, but with more power', to Jane Archer, the very first female MI5 officer who raised suspicions about the Soviet spy Kim Philby long before he was officially unmasked and Winifred Spink, the first female officer ever sent to Russia in 1916.

Paperback

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a meticulously researched history of some fascinating unsung women who quietly were the backbone of the British intelligence services in the first half of the twentieth century. Dr Hubbard-Hall shares with the brilliant Ben Macintyre the ability to tell a compelling and immersive story using real-life characters and events.

[Antonis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly written, repetitious and boring. Did not finish.