British Intelligence in the Second World War Abridged version [Abridged] [Hardcover]

F. H. Hinsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 1993

British Intelligence in the Second World War provides the only reliable account yet published of the key role played by British Intelligence in Allied strategy and operations in the Second World War. No such account could have been written without the unrestricted access that was afforded to Professor Hinsley and his colleagues to the full range of British government intelligence records and to political and military archives of the war and the interwar years. This volume, an abridgement of Professor Hinsley's widely acclaimed five-volume history of British Intelligence, covers in fascinating detail the use of intelligence in all aspects of the war in Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is essential for a full nderstanding of the rtole of British Intelligence in the war and its influence on strategy and operations." The Cryptogram

Product Details

• Hardcover: 628 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Abridged edition (June 25, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521443040
• ISBN-13: 978-0521443043
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,778,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The OFFICIAL History, May 14, 2000

By 

Dr. Frank Stech (Glenndale, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: British Intelligence in the Second World War Abridged version (Hardcover)

For over thirty years after the end of World War II, the real history of Allied military intelligence remained hidden from the public and from all but the smallest handful of historians. The many thousands, who during the war were "in the know," kept these deep secrets from even their closest families.

The two darkest secrets of the Allied intelligence war against the Nazis remained concealed until the mid-1970s. These were the "doubling" of every Nazi agent in Great Britain in the "Double Cross" deception operation, and, more significantly, the cracking of the Nazi's Enigma cypher messages. These two master-strokes of espionage and intelligence were first leaked in a few memoirs in the mid-1970s (e.g., Winterbottom, Jones, Montagu, & Masterman), then released in a flood of revised war histories (e.g., Lewin, Bennett). Finally, the British commissioned the massive multi-volume series, "Official History of British Intelligence" since all previous "official histories" were, to put it bluntly, mostly rubbish in light of these revelations.

Harry Hinsley, a young scholar at Cambridge when the war began, became an Enigma code-breaker at Bletchley Park, one of those thousands who produced the decrypts and intelligence analysis that came to be known as the ULTRA Secret. Decades later, as the trickle of WWII memoirs turned into a flood of revised histories, the British Government commissioned then-Professor Hinsley to author the "official" version of these most secret operations and their impact on the war.

This abridged volume has the virtue of capturing the essence of the original 5+ volumes, now out-of-print, each originally priced at about $50. (Other volumes in the "official" series are still being released.) This abridged volume of the official history is ideal for busy professionals in military history and scholars of the intelligence business. Only the most diligent scholars will resort to the original volumes (and those will ultimately consult the sources and arcanae in the British Public Record Office archives). So, if you pretty much already know the inside stories behind these secret goings-on, Sir Harry Hinsley's abridged version is quite useful as a packable scholar's summary (for that trip to the Public Record Office?) and a guidebook for your personal historical research.

Which is another way to say this volume is too dry, detailed, and arcane for the average reader. Far more readable volumes cover the secret history of World War III for the average reader. Start with Ronald Lewin, David Kahn, Ralph Bennett, Anthony Cave Brown, Ewen Montagu, or R. V. Jones for more readable and accessible memoirs and histories. Enjoy these and then seek out Sir Harry's abridged official resource for intelligence and historical professionals.