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The Art Of Betrayal, The Secret History Of M16 (2000)

by Gordon Corera(Favorite Author)

3.61 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

review 1: Corera is the BBC's Security Correspondent and is therefore well placed to bring this unofficial history of Mi6 to life with a speedy narrative flare.The book is mainly focussed on the post-WWII era and is split into chapters of geographic and thematic significance for the service - the intrigue of post-war Vienna, Kim Philby & the 'Gang of 5', Daphne Park battling Communism and colonial decline in the Congo, double-agents and counter-intelligence in Moscow & Washington, honey traps in London, the Russian defector Gordievsky, the proxy war in 80s Afghanistan, the emergence of the service into public view in the post-Cold War era and the modern service fighting terrorism and making mistakes in the lead-up to the Iraq war.Corera also weaves into the structure a lot of refere... morence to spy novel authors throughout the ages, showing that sometimes life imitates arts, more than we might think. I really enjoyed it. It's a great primer for anyone interested in one of the world's finest intelligence organisations and it rips along at an enjoyable pace providing an alternative angle on some of the 20th Century's biggest moments.The only criticism I have, and it's an understandable one, is that at times I wondered how sanitised some of the source material and accounts were, given the need for secrets to be maintained. But other than that, I thought it was great and would recommend it to spook fanboys and those with a passing interest alike.
review 2: I started reading this as I was initially intrigued by SIS's Cold War spying, but soon found it somewhat dry and uninteresting, perhaps largely because it wasn't easy to relate to. However fast forward to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and that was much more interesting to read, as was all that followed.I thought the writing style was heavy and uneven in places; it feels thorough though, clearly very well researched. less

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