The Big Breach: From Top Secret to Maximum Security [Paperback]

Richard Tomlinson (Author), Nick Fielding (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2001

Richard Tomlinson was recruited initially by MI6, the British foreign intelligence service, during his senior year at Cambridge University. In these memoirs, he claims to have quickly gained the trust and confidence of one of the world's most effective intelligence organizations, and that he was relied on to smuggle nuclear secrets out of Moscow. Tomlinson also writes that he ran an undercover operation in Sarajevo while the city was under siege, and infiltrated and dismantled a criminal group that sought to export chemical weapons capabilities to Iran. Four years after joining MI6, Tomlinson's career was abruptly halted. Attempting to fight a case for unjust dismissal, Tomlinson was arrested for breaking the Official Secrets Act and imprisoned. He was subsequently released.

Editorial Reviews

Review

MI6 maintains Tomlinson mixes up fact and fiction, though it acknowledges that large parts of the book ... are accurate. -- The Sunday Times, January 14, 2001 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Richard Tomlinson was born in New Zealand and grew up in England. He is fluent in Spanish, German, French and Italian. A licensed pilot and skipper, his hobbies include scuba diving, gardening and windsurfing. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd (March 28, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0732270944
• ISBN-13: 978-0732270940
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,302,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We'll never know the entire truth, April 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Breach : From Top Secret To Maximum Security (Hardcover)

Richard Tomlinson's book contains a mix of things that are almost certainly true, of other things that are subjective and open to differing interpretations, and of ambiguities that we have to choose to either believe or disbelieve as best we can.

However, even if we discard the subjective and ambiguous issues, the clearly true matters should be sufficient to give pause for thought and grounds for concern amongst all fair-minded members of the world's so called free democracies. Tomlinson may or may not have deserved to be fired, but - at least as he tells his story, and MI6 have not contradicted anything - it does seem like he was unfairly dealt with, and his subsequent arrests all around the world (inevitably followed by having his latest computer impounded by an MI6 or Special Branch officer) would seem to be unfair and not the behaviour we'd hope of an organisation that, due to its very lack of scrutiny, should surely hold itself to a high standard of honesty and fairness.

The book is reasonably interesting and readable. The details of his early training and his life after MI6 were more interesting (to me) than the actual details of some of his activities there, with a lot of acronyms and code-words that were never really fully explained.

Perhaps the details that will haunt me the most are the stories of three people that broached the Official Secrets Act. Tomlinson, Patton, and Rimmington. Patton - Lord Patton, last governor of Hong Kong, and Rimmington - former head of MI5. Patton included MI6 confidential briefing material in his memoirs and Rimmington is writing her own autobiography of her time heading up MI5. Why are those two people untouchable, while Tomlinson's essentially harmless work (which had not even been written or published at the time he was sent to maximum security prison!) has destroyed his life, probably for ever.

I guess this is more a commentary on his situation than his book! I urge you to buy the book, but, most of all, I urge you to worry about the lessons implicit in it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MI6: A Story of No Accountability to the Government, March 13, 2003

By 

John Nolley II (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Big Breach : From Top Secret To Maximum Security (Hardcover)

Richard Tomlinson is a former MI6 (the British equivalent to the CIA) operative who ran afoul of poor management and subsequently found out just how little accountability there is for MI6 to the British government as they illegally pursued him throughout Europe and exerted influence with forein intelligence services to make his life miserable.

The first half or so of the book concerns his recruitment, training, and service with MI6. Though Tomlinson never reveals any true national secrets, the tale is still an enjoyable read and casts an interesting light on the less-than-glamorous life of a spy (sorry, James Bond is complete fiction!) Unfortunately, due to his reluctance to discuss secret issues and the brevity of his career, this fascinating portion of the book soon comes to a close.

Following a clash of personality with a superior, Tomlinson is summarily dismissed from MI6 and immediately put under watch, his life controlled and manipulated by his former coworkers. He spends time in prison for supposedly violating the secrets act in Britian, then leaves the country to try to make a life that won't be constantly monitored and manipulated. The tale is one of injustice and frightening lack of government accountability and worth every minute spent reading it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All those "a readers" are spooks...read this book, September 6, 2001

By 

bozoMI6 (london, england) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Breach : From Top Secret To Maximum Security (Hardcover)

Having been intimately associated with the workings of intelligence agencies and military ops, Tomlinson's book has the total ring of truth... the vindictive pettiness and unrelenting pursuit of him shows the depths that bureaucrats will go to to not admit a mistake... since one would have to be sacrificed in the retraction... He captures very well the arrogance and cowboy attitude of the secret services who consider themselves above the law... Read this book! It even happens to be well written...

(I love reading the negative reviews, you can get a great taste of the MI6 spy headspace by what they reveal...)