MI6, By Keith Jeffery
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Allowed unrestricted access to MI6 files up to 1949, Jeffery has constructed a detailed and compulsive narrative. He achieves this by making the story "essentially one of people".
Starting in 1909 when MI6 was a one-man band run by Mansfield Cumming (fond of disguises and gadgets, "C" was the prototype for Ian Fleming's "M"), Jeffery sketches the "eclectic and cosmopolitan mix" in this odd trade.
They range from novelist Compton Mackenzie, who ran the Aegean Service from an ex-royal yacht, to Dudley Clarke, whose arrest in Madrid in 1941 dressed as a woman (not very convincing) did not hinder his rise to the rank of brigadier.
Towards the end, a more ambiguous figure appears. Kim Philby condemned a would-be Soviet defector "as surely as if he had pulled the trigger".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments