The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5

A very apt historical account of internal security service of britain from its formation

soiled

Für Interessierte ein ausgezeichnetes und unverzichtbares Buch. Die authorisierte Geschichte des britischen Geheimdienstes MI5 von den Anfängen im Jahr 1909 bis zur jüngeren Gegenwart überrascht mit erstaunlicher Offenheit. Der Autor, Professor Christopher Andrew, hatte unbeschränkten Zugang zu den Archiven des MI5 erhalten und beschreibt die über 100jährige Geschichte des Dienstes auf mehr als 1000 Seiten so genau, wie es die vorhandenen Unterlagen zuließen. Es liegt in der Natur der Sache, daß die Darstellung der jüngeren Geschichte nebulöser wird und aktuellere Ereignisse der Geheimhaltung unterliegen. Für Geschichtsinteressierte und Historiker ist das Werk allein schon deshalb von Bedeutung, als meines Wissen kein anderer Geheimdienst, egal aus welchem Land, je eine vergleichbare und in weiten Teilen durchaus kritisch reflektierende Selbstdarstellung veröffentlicht hat. The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5

Professor Christopher Andrew has written an official history with style and authority and as with Professor Keith Jeffery's history of MI6, The United Kingdom's sister foreign intelligence service, the approach is as critical as it is expository. This work will remain an invaluable benchmark and reference for the history of British intelligence in the 20th century. The Security Service (MI5) should be given credit for recognising that historical analysis and narrative requires a view and understanding of the operations of covert government bodies in terms of home and foreign policy. Professor Andrew's evaluation of the damage of the Cambridge spy ring, lovingly christened 'The Magnificent Five' by their Soviet spymasters is chilling and captivating. You feel nauseated when learning how Anthony Blunt charmed his MI5 colleagues at their Second World War H/Q in St James's Street Mayfair, while systematically sacking the service of its crown jewels. While the MI5 secretaries adored him as some kind of Trevor Howard film star, he was filching out of the office over 1,700 documents to give to his NKVD case officer in the twilight of London's war-time gloom. But there was the curious irony that at the time the paranoid Soviet intelligence establishment thought the incontinent flow of secrets was too good to be true and that Blunt, Burgess, Maclean, Philby and Cairncross was playing double-cross. The greatest irony perhaps is that Sir Roger Hollis was onto Blunt; only to be personally tarred later in the maelstrom of paranoid suspicion about more Soviet moles, while Blunt enjoyed the privilege and glory of being Keeper of the Queen's pictures and an immunity cover-up lasting until 1979. There is so much writing and information in this 1,032 page volume that it needs to be read in bite-size chunks. But it is full of evocative and intriguing photographs and illustrations. The academic referencing and notation supports the accuracy of the sourcing rather than getting in the way of enjoying the book as historical literature. ***** In the light of the scandal about fake, malicious and manipulated reviews on Amazon, I am happy to declare that I have had no contact whatsoever with the author. He is certainly a researcher and writer I admire. I purchased the copy of the book reviewed here.

Cet ouvrage, reconnu et salué par la critique, expose en détail, l'histoire très attendue des Services de renseignement intérieur du Royaume Uni. Il fera très certainement un ouvrage de référence pour tous les passionnés d'histoire en général, en particulier ceux intéressés par les aspects de défense, stratégie et sécurité.

MI5, the British Security Service, was not even acknowledged until 1989, and has now reached the century mark with a massive, authorized biography. This truly compendious volume, commissioned by MI5, was compiled by the acclaimed intelligence writer and historian, Christopher Andrew. This is a history of the one hundred years beginning with the founding of MI5 in 1909 in response to the Edwardian spy mania, changing from a focus on counter-espionage and counter-subversion to one of counter-terrorism. It remains perhaps the most famous and effective clandestine agency in the world. The role of MI5 has changed over the century: while maintaining secrecy in order to effectively protect parliamentary democracy, it has been under increasing pressure to be as transparent as possible. Mr. Andrew, professor of modern history at Cambridge University, was chosen to delve into the secret history of MI5 and given unrestricted access to the 400,000 internal files of the service. No doubt, Mr. Andrew opened himself to criticism in that he has asked his readers to accept his analysis upon faith. Since the rest of us cannot independently verify his conclusions , we must put our trust in his integrity. Sometime in the future, other researchers may be given access to the files, and this has surely given pause to Mr. Andrew to accurately record his findings. The result is a wonderfully detailed look at the critical issues confronting the Security Service from the time of British imperialism, through the “Red Scare” and “Boche” period of pre- and post-WWI, the Second World War, the Cold War, the exposure of the Soviet infiltration of both MI5 and MI6, and up to the terrorism threats of the turn of the present century. Beginning with the card index of suspicious persons (over 200,000 names in 1917), the concerns of MI5 have been widespread; the 1920s and 30s were concerned with the threat of international communism; WWII brought fears of fascism in Europe and Asia. The Cold War ushered in Soviet skullduggery and the need to combat al-Quaida after 9/11. The thousand-plus pages of this book are brimming with details of the achievements—and failures of MI5. Was counter-intelligence specialist Peter Wright correct about infiltration of the services beyond that of the Cambridge Five? Was P.M. Harold Wilson correct in his belief that MI5 was surveiling him? Jews were prohibited from serving in MI5 until the late 1970s because of their perceived double loyalty to Britain and Israel. MI5 chief Guy Liddell testified before the Joint Intelligence Committee in 1949, stating that “n_____ coming here often went to the C[ommunist] P[arty]” and that “West African natives are wholly unfitted for self-rule.” MI5 conducted secret surveillance of the colonial delegations coming to London for post-WWII independence discussions. It must be admitted that the transition of power from the British Empire to independent states in Africa and Asia came off much more smoothly than the same transitions by the rest of the European countries. The notable achievements of the Security Service include the Double-Cross System of WWII; the complete list of successes is limited by the need to maintain secrecy, a problem of all clandestine agencies; the measure of their success is judged by the things that do not happen. Defend the Realm is not a flawless book. In any security service, it is difficult—perhaps impossible—to separate fact from fiction. With its eccentric mix of professional soldiers, amateur spies, and false identities, it is to Mr. Andrew’s credit that he has achieved so much. Mr. Andrew is an historian of high repute. His studies of Soviet intelligence in collaboration with two defectors and ex-KGB officers, Oleg Gordievsky and Vasili Mitrokhin, are monumental. His books include KGB: The Inside Story (1990), The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB (1999), and The Word Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (2005). As for criticism that his appointment as official historian for MI5 (he was too close to the Security Service to be impartial), his response as quoted in The Guardian was, “Posterity and postgraduates are breathing down my neck. I tell my PhD students: I know you can only get on in the profession by assaulting teachers. You are not going to make a reputation by saying, ‘Look, Professor Andrew was right all along the line.’” As MI5’s files are eventually opened to other researchers (as they will no doubt be), Mr. Andrew’s work will be scrutinized. Any “white-washing” would be exposed and his work undermined. Defend the Realm is a most valuable and comprehensive contribution to the understanding of the British Security Service and, by extension, the twentieth century. In the world of smoke and mirrors, truths and lies, this is the one book that intelligence professionals need to read.

Dass es ein gewichtiger Beitrag zur Geschichte des britischen Geheimdienstes ist, beweist schon das schiere Volumen des Bandes und dafür steht auch der erzseriöse Historiker Christopher Andrew. Ob man als Einzelperson überhaupt die Menge des Materials erfassen, bündeln und adäquat darstellen kann, scheint fraglich. Man kann es wohl nur, wenn man sich konsequent chrono-thematisch vorarbeitet und mehr wagt Andrew tatsächlich nicht. So wird die interessante Entwicklung des Inlandsgeheimdienstes, der mit einer Handvoll Enthusiasten begann und offiziell mittlerweile 5000 Menschen in Lohn und Brot hat, annähernd fassbar. Faszinierend zu sehen, wie die Feindbilder wechseln: Waren es von 1909 bis 1945 die Deutschen, so wurden diese bald von den Sowjets und den eigenen Kommunisten abgelöst, es kam die IRA dazu und schließlich definiert man sich im 21. Jahrhundert nicht mehr als Gegenspionage-, sondern Gegenterrorismusinstitution. Um allen ideologischen Fallstricken zu entgehen, und durchaus in der Tradition der englischen Geschichtsschreibung, bemüht sich Andrew um einen ruhigen Ton, vermeidet polarisierende Bewertungen, entsensationalisiert die Arbeit des Geheimdienstes. Das wirkt einerseits positiv objektiv, nimmt der Geschichte allerdings jegliche Spitze, jegliche Spannung, die einen Geheimdienst nun mal auch ausmacht, ohne dabei die bürokratische Hauptarbeit vernachlässigen zu wollen. Wer behauptet, dieses Buch enthielte nichts Neues, muss allwissend sein, denn vieles dürfte zum ersten Mal der Öffentlichkeit vorgeführt worden sein - leider oft in einem übervorsichtigen Anschlag. Sicher, was die spektakulären Fälle betrifft, wie etwa Philby und die "Magnificent Five" (Nr. 5 war demnach im Übrigen Cairncross und nicht Hollis, wie Wright in "Spycatcher" medienwirksam behauptet hatte), da erfährt man kaum Neues, aber die jeweiligen politischen Verstrickungen etwa unter der Heath-, Wilson- oder Thatcherregierung, dürften den meisten Lesern unbekannt sein, sind freilich weniger aufsehenerregend. Insgesamt wäre eine konzisere Auswahl wohl besser gewesen, zu viele Geschichtchen, Namen, Akronyme ... wirken ermüdend, keine Frage; 1000 trockene Seiten können ein ganz schöner Kanten werden für all jene, die sich nur informieren wollen. Andrews straight forward approach hindert ihn freilich daran, die Frage nach dem Sinn und Unsinn eines Geheimdienstes auch nur in Erwägung zu ziehen - nirgendwo scheint er in der Lage, die Plattform, auf der er steht, wahrzunehmen, geschweige denn anzuzweifeln. Von Interesse ist der Band aber vor allem aus geschichtsphilosophischer Sicht, denn selten bekommt man die Gelegenheit hautnah zu verfolgen, wie Geschichte eigentlich entsteht. Nämlich nicht durch die Geschehnisse, sondern die Art und Weise, wie diese ausgewählt und erzählt werden. Und da Andrews Erstbegehungen (wer hatte zuvor schon freien Zugang im Archivdschungel?) unternimmt, lässt sich gut verfolgen, wie die historischen Pfade geschlagen, wie Interpretationsrichtungen vorgegeben werden.