C: The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Graham Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill

by Anthony Cave Brown

Traces the life and career of British master spy Menzies, who played a pivotal role in intelligence activities during World War II

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

830 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Erik Graff]

Although I find the values held by both the author and his subject to be abhorent, this is an excellent biography as well as a good introduction to the formation of the modern intelligence instruments of both the U.K. and the U.S.A. during the second world war.

In addition, the first, rather lengthy, portion of the book, detailing the life of Mr. Menzies before entering the intelligence community, evokes the horrors of the British class system before the war--not that Mr. Brown appears to find it horrible--while the last portion of the book goes into some detailed speculation about the Philby case.

[Ferris Mx]

I was prepared for this to be a tedious slog, but it was well written and informative. Much of the coverage of Menzies was more accurately coverage of the SIS during WWII, and I suppose that's unavoidable. In any case, there was plenty of well-presented information with which I was previously unavailable, and Brown does a great job separating fact from speculation, which is really important given the amount of intentional misinformation around spy work.

[Naperdog]

A thick well-written history of a vital figure in the secret history of the world. Tons of interesting details. The Nazis and the Bolsheviks were his main enemies, but the bitterest battles were fought with unknowing rival countrymen and greedy Allies. Lots of people suffered and died due to bureaucratic turf battles, of which Menzies was a master. His exploitation of signals intelligence was masterful. Most intriguing is how Soviet spy Kim Philly was able to rise so high in MI6. The catastrophic WW1 losses affected everyone to an extent that Americans cannot really understand. This book also illustrates the importance of family relationships and the proper schools to running the British Empire. Ten stars!

[Debbie]

This book was very informative but quite boring.

[Steve Coscia]

Very detailed Sir Stewart Menzies biography and the behind-the-scenes espionage that enabled the Allies to win WWII. Sir Stewart Menzies presided over the Ultra Secret. He and Winston Churchill made very difficult decisions regarding how to use Ultra. Many innocent people (and quite a few guilty ones too) died in the wake of protecting Ultra. Eventually, the Kim Philby debacle scarred Menzies' reputation.

[Robert]

Fantastic book about the man who won WWll with Winston Churchill. 2nd time I have read this. HAVE TO SEE THE MOVIE Imitation about breaking Enigma.

[Al]

The life of the head of GB's Stewart Menzies, head of MI6 during WWII

[Larry Loftis]

Excellent biography about the director of MI6 during WWII, and the man Ian Fleming used for inspiring his Bond character "M" (along with Fleming's boss, Adm. John Godfrey).

[Sheila]

Most people know about "C" from James Bond movies. This bio, like the movies, have to be read alongside anti-colonial histories. It is that history of racial and class oppression that inspired Kim Philby to become a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union. Philby, who worked for British intelligence, thought of Menzies as a not-that-bright upper class Brit. Philby and his comrade spies spawned at Cambridge University eluded Menzies for years, so maybe he was right. Animal lovers take note: Menzies was a life long fox hunter, who, when he retired from the upper class ritual, had his horses shot.