Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook451 pages6 hours
MI6: British Secret Intelligence Service Operations, 1909–1945
By Nigel West
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Written by the renowned expert Nigel West, this book exposes the operations of Britain’s overseas intelligence-gathering organization, the famed Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and traces its origins back to its inception in 1909. In this meticulously researched account, its activities and structure are described in detail, using original secret service documents.
The main body of the book concerns MI6’s operations during the Second World War, and includes some remarkable successes and failures, including how MI6 financed a glamorous confidant of the German secret service; how a suspected French traitor was murdered by mistake; how Franco’s military advisors were bribed to keep Spain out of the war; how members of the Swedish secret police were blackmailed into helping the British war effort; how a sabotage operation in neutral Tangiers enabled the Allied landings in North Africa to proceed undetected; and how Britain’s generals ignored the first ULTRA decrypts because MI6 said that the information had come from ‘a well-placed source called BONIFACE’.
In this new edition, operations undertaken by almost all of MI6’s overseas stations are recounted in extraordinary detail. They will fascinate both the professional intelligence officer and the general reader.
The book includes organizational charts to illustrate MI6’s internal structure and its wartime network of overseas stations. Backed by numerous interviews with intelligence officers and their agents, this engaging inside story throws light on many wartime incidents that had previously remained unexplained.
The main body of the book concerns MI6’s operations during the Second World War, and includes some remarkable successes and failures, including how MI6 financed a glamorous confidant of the German secret service; how a suspected French traitor was murdered by mistake; how Franco’s military advisors were bribed to keep Spain out of the war; how members of the Swedish secret police were blackmailed into helping the British war effort; how a sabotage operation in neutral Tangiers enabled the Allied landings in North Africa to proceed undetected; and how Britain’s generals ignored the first ULTRA decrypts because MI6 said that the information had come from ‘a well-placed source called BONIFACE’.
In this new edition, operations undertaken by almost all of MI6’s overseas stations are recounted in extraordinary detail. They will fascinate both the professional intelligence officer and the general reader.
The book includes organizational charts to illustrate MI6’s internal structure and its wartime network of overseas stations. Backed by numerous interviews with intelligence officers and their agents, this engaging inside story throws light on many wartime incidents that had previously remained unexplained.
Unavailable
Author
Nigel West
Nigel West is a military historian specialising in security and intelligence issues. He was voted ‘the experts’ expert’ by a panel of other spy writers in The Observer, with the Sunday Times commenting: ‘His information is so precise that many people believe he is the unofficial historian of the secret services. West’s sources are undoubtedly excellent. His books are peppered with deliberate clues to potential front-page stories.’ In 2003, he was awarded the US Association of Former Intelligence Officers’ first Lifetime Literature Achievement Award, and until 2015, he lectured at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies in Alexandria, Virginia. His website can be found at www.nigelwest.com.
Read more from Nigel West
MI6: British Secret Intelligence Service Operations, 1909–1945 GCHQ: The Secret Wireless War, 1900–1986 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Double Agent Celery: MI5's Crooked Hero Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5At Her Majestys Secret Service: The Chiefs of Britains Intelligence Service, MI6 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Assassinations Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecret War: The Story of SOE, Britain's Wartime Sabotage Organisation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cold War Counterfeit Spies: Tales of Espionage; Genuine or Bogus? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHitler's Trojan Horse: The Fall of the Abwehr, 1943–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOperation Garbo: The Personal Story of the Most Successful Spy of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spycraft Secrets: An Espionage A-Z Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Churchill's Spy Files: MI5's Top-Secret Wartime Reports Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDouble Cross in Cairo: The True Story of the Spy Who Turned the Tide of War in the Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spies Who Changed History: The Greatest Spies & Agents of the 20th Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCodeword Overlord: Axis Espionage and the D-Day Landings Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Clear Case of Genius: Room 40's Code-Breaking Pioneer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHitler's Nest of Vipers: The Rise Of The Abwehr Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to MI6
Related ebooks
Beating the Nazi Invader: Hitler's Spies, Saboteurs and Secrets in Britain 1940 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeating the Nazi Invader: Hitler’s Spies, Saboteurs and Secrets in Britain 1940 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecret War: The Story of SOE, Britain's Wartime Sabotage Organisation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Section D for Destruction: Forerunner of SOE: The Story of Section D of the Secret Intelligence Service Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdmiral Canaris - Chief of Intelligence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecret Service Against the Nazi Regime: How Our Spies Dealt with Hitler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed List: MI5 and British Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEast German intelligence and Ireland, 1949–90: Espionage, terrorism and diplomacy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCode Wars: How 'Ultra' and 'Magic' Led to Allied Victory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpy of the Century: Alfred Redl & the Betrayal of Austro-Hungary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Hervie Haufler's The Spies Who Never Were Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouse of Spies: St Ermin's Hotel, the London Base of British Espionage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCountering Hitler's Spies: British Military Intelligence, 1940–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpies and Secret Service - The Story of Espionage, Its Main Systems and Chief Exponents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSix: The Real James Bonds 1909-1939 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Gordon Corera's The Art of Betrayal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCapital of Spies: Intelligence Agencies in Berlin During the Cold War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecret Alliances: Special Operations and Intelligence in Norway 1940–1945 – The British Perspective Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5MI5 in the Great War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Codebreakers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOverlord, Underhand Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHitler's Secret Army Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Churchill's Underground Army: A History of the Auxillary Units in World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unknown Courier: The True Story of Operation Mincemeat Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wolf's Lair: Inside Hitler's East Prussian HQ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Shadows of Enigma: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of Mi6: The Intelligence and Espionage Agency of the British Government Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFighting to Lose: How the German Secret Intelligence Service Helped the Allies Win the Second World War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Espionage For You
The CIA Lockpicking Manual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mueller Report Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen—America's Most Damaging Russian Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations that Helped Win the Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lying in Wait: Ann Rule's Crime Files: Vol.17 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spy Schools: How the CIA, FBI, and Foreign Intelligence Secretly Exploit America's Universities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden History: An Exposé of Modern Crimes, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups in American Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Spy: The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Was Never Here: My True Canadian Spy Story of Coffees, Code Names and Covert Operations in the Age of Terrorism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Witness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5FBI Diary: Profiles of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Director: My Years Assisting J. Edgar Hoover Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5We Are Bellingcat: Global Crime, Online Sleuths, and the Bold Future of News Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Riding with Evil: Taking Down the Notorious Pagan Motorcycle Gang Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5That's What They Want You to Think: Conspiracies Real, Possible, and Paranoid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mueller Report: The Final Report of the Special Counsel into Donald Trump, Russia, and Collusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The January 6 Report Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chameleo: A Strange But True Story of Invisible Spies, Heroin Addiction, and Homeland Security Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Three Minutes to Doomsday: An Agent, a Traitor, and the Worst Espionage Breach in U.S. History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evil Beside Her: The True Story of a Texas Woman's Marriage to a Dangerous Psychopath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nine Lives: My Time As MI6's Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nancy Wake: The gripping true story of the woman who became the Gestapo's most wanted spy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related podcast episodes
Traitors and treachery: Historical figures branded traitors 0% found this document useful253-The Dame of Sark: A 56-year-old British noblewoman stood up to Nazi occupiers on the tiny island of Sark. 0% found this document usefulDan Explains: Operation Mincemeat: Did the success of the Sicily invasion came down to this one act of deception? 0% found this document usefulChatter: World War I and Intelligence in American Memory, with Mark Stout 0% found this document usefulHow Women Won WWII: Sabotage and a Jewish Spymaster: Today in our series, we return to the art of espionage. 0% found this document useful30YearsWar #50: The War In The North: The War In The North 0% found this document useful45: WOMEN IN INTELLIGENCE with Helen Fry 0% found this document usefulThe real story of Colditz: The true story of the POW camp isn't just more complicated – it's much more interesting. 0% found this document usefulWW2: The Forgotten Blitz 0% found this document useful1956 - The Suez Crisis #2.2: Suez, A Life: Suez, A Life 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Secret Sacrifice: The Agents Who Risked All Behind Nazi Lines The GuardianArticle
Secret Sacrifice: The Agents Who Risked All Behind Nazi Lines
May 31, 2020
4 min readSpies Of Operation Citadel History of WarArticle
Spies Of Operation Citadel
Jul 12, 2018
12 min readMUSEUMS & EVENTS History of WarArticle
MUSEUMS & EVENTS
Dec 21, 2023
3 min readThe Enemy Within World War IIArticle
The Enemy Within
Mar 16, 2021
12 min readFault Lines MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military HistoryArticle
Fault Lines
Oct 5, 2021
4 min readTV, FILM & RADIO History RevealedArticle
TV, FILM & RADIO
Feb 17, 2022
4 min readWar On Nazis In Oz And In The Air The Critic MagazineArticle
War On Nazis In Oz And In The Air
Feb 29, 2024
3 min readReviews History of WarArticle
Reviews
Oct 4, 2018
8 min readThe Style & Technique Of BEN MACINTYRE Writing MagazineArticle
The Style & Technique Of BEN MACINTYRE
Mar 5, 2020
‘If you’re looking for a good spy thriller, I definitely recommend this,’ said a review in the Daily Express. The book was not an invented spy yarn, but a true story – Agent Zigzag. Fact can be stranger than fiction. Ben Macintyre, historian and Time
6 min readNews from MI5 Finest HourArticle
News from MI5
Nov 5, 2018
Nigel West, Churchill’s Spy Files: MI5’s Top Secret Wartime Reports, The History Press, 2018, 464 pages, $35/£25. ISBN 978–0750985499 In April 1943, as the North African campaign approached its climax in Tunisia, MI5, Britain’s Security Service, beg
3 min readHalf A Century Of The World At War The Critic MagazineArticle
Half A Century Of The World At War
Sep 28, 2023
EARLIER THIS YEAR, JEFF HARVEY bumped into an old friend, a man in late middle age. Knowing that Harvey had worked on The World at War, his acquaintance began telling the retired editor what the series meant to him. “He started talking about Oradour,
11 min readTV & RADIO Who Do You Think You Are?Article
TV & RADIO
Feb 7, 2023
2 min readBritain's Secret Army History of WarArticle
Britain's Secret Army
Jun 11, 2020
8 min readBeating The Nazi Invader History of WarArticle
Beating The Nazi Invader
Jan 21, 2021
1 min readPrussia’s Rebel History of WarArticle
Prussia’s Rebel
Jan 23, 2020
6 min readBlood Brothers Military HistoryArticle
Blood Brothers
Jan 1, 2019
8 min readSWISS HEROES & COMMANDERS History of WarArticle
SWISS HEROES & COMMANDERS
Jul 12, 2018
4 min readAlderney's Inconvenient Truth The OldieArticle
Alderney's Inconvenient Truth
Sep 20, 2023
What happened on Alderney during the war? A government ‘Review into the number of prisoners who died on Alderney during the Nazi occupation’ has been greeted with headlines about ‘Britain's Holocaust Island’ – allegations of cover-up and conspiracy,
3 min readOut Of The Shadows BBC History MagazineArticle
Out Of The Shadows
Dec 28, 2021
1 min read“These Priceless Messages” Finest HourArticle
“These Priceless Messages”
Aug 2, 2023
7 min readOperation Mincemeat And The Man Who Never Was History RevealedArticle
Operation Mincemeat And The Man Who Never Was
Dec 29, 2021
8 min readOperation Mincemeat History of WarArticle
Operation Mincemeat
Sep 3, 2020
9 min readYour Letters Family Tree UKArticle
Your Letters
Aug 7, 2020
5 min readReporting On The Troubles History of WarArticle
Reporting On The Troubles
Oct 31, 2019
8 min readTrump’s Soviet Approach to Intelligence The AtlanticArticle
Trump’s Soviet Approach to Intelligence
Sep 15, 2018
4 min readOperation Neck History of WarArticle
Operation Neck
Jul 11, 2019
9 min readA “Villain for All Seasons” Finest HourArticle
A “Villain for All Seasons”
Aug 5, 2020
The real, complex, and historically important Churchill is increasingly disappearing behind crudely mythologised versions erected by those who wish to defend a political position or a series of values, and those who wish to attack them. On the one ha
9 min readEncounters BBC History MagazineArticle
Encounters
Nov 24, 2022
3 min readFemale Spies and Their Secrets The AtlanticArticle
Female Spies and Their Secrets
May 12, 2019
8 min readDiary: Visit / Watch / Listen / Taste BBC History MagazineArticle
Diary: Visit / Watch / Listen / Taste
Dec 28, 2021
6 min read
Reviews for MI6
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews