'Blinker' Hall: Spymaster: The Man Who Brought America into World War I

by David Ramsay

Admiral Sir Reginald “Blinker” Hall, the director of Naval Intelligence for most of World War I, was one of the outstanding—if largely unrecognized—naval leaders of the war and this is a gripping study of this fascinating man and his invaluable legacy. Naval Intelligence’s ability to read and analyze German naval and diplomatic signals on a daily basis was a significant factor in the Allied victory, as the Germans never realized that their codes had been broken. The revelation of the Zimmermann Telegram, depicted as one of the most exciting events in the history of intelligence, was astutely handled by Hall and served as the catalyst that brought America into the war in April 1917. The effective interface between intelligence and operations, instituted by Hall and the antisubmarine chief, together with the introduction of convoys resulted in the defeat of the seemingly unstoppable U-boats. Hall’s dynamic leadership, talent for lateral thinking, and force of personality were essential to these successes, but above all, Hall was endowed with the guile and ruthlessness that kept him one step ahead of a formidable and determined enemy as well as their widespread espionage and subversion operations.

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Derek Nudd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Britain was fortunate to have in each of the 20th century's existential conflicts a Naval Intelligence chief of breathtaking talent and energy: 'Blinker' Hall in the first and John Godfrey in the second. Ramsay, himself the son of an illustrious admiral, focusses on the first while drawing on the second to compare and contrast where helpful.

In an environment where MI5 and MI6 had only just come into being and the other intelligence agencies were as yet undreamt of, Hall's imagination and ruthlessness built an empire whose scope embraced cryptography, espionage, counter-intelligence, diplomacy, special operations, salvage, interrogation, and politics. As a lowly captain he was consulted about the termination of at least one First Sea Lord's career, and possibly another. Yet he built this unparalleled influence with a charm that would proverbially allow him to cut your heart out, sell it back to you - and leave you thanking him afterward.

And so to the book. Let me get a couple of moans out of the way first. Ramsay consistently refers to the German Navy as Kriegsmarine, its WW2 name, rather than Kaiserliche Marine. Maybe trivial in itself, but repeated frequently throughout the book it starts to grate - and should have been picked up at the editing stage. Having said which there are very few other editing issues.

A more serious concern is that Ramsay does at times stumble into the biographers' bear-pit: having a three-dimensional protagonist wander through a field of cardboard caricatures. Some of the other characters need more filling out. I also get the impression, particularly as he accelerates toward the end, that the author starts from the assumption that Hall was infallible and fits the narrative around it (see for example his treatment of the Zinoviev Letter).

Almost inevitably, and in common with everything written about Naval Intelligence in WW1, the book is at times dominated by the cryptographers of Room 40. Given the impact of their work this is understandable but it would be good to see some of the less glamorous activities given due credit.

All of which sounds unduly grumpy. I actually enjoyed this book and found it useful and illuminating - and especially so as a valuable update / cross-bearing on Beesly's Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914- 1918 (1982) which I have read and William James' The Eyes of the Navy: A Biographical Study of Admiral Sir Reginald Hall (1955) which is a pleasure in store. Recommended then, but don't accept all his heroes and monsters at face value.