Customer Reviews

MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read Stephen Dorril's account with some dismay. Far from a balanced treatment of MI6's impact on the Cold War, Dorril drops one suggestion after another pointing at the West as instigator of the Cold War. Amazingly, Dorrill treats the presence of Philby, McClean and other Soviet spies in MI6 as normal, as if a diversity of views should take precendence over the destructive effect Philby had on MI6/CIA activity and morale.
This book portrays the Soviets as "victims" of Western treachery or buffoonery, a thesis that is itself a nice work of propaganda.
Nevertheless, Dorril presents events that are factual, albeit framed to suit his goal of painting MI6 as a prime cause of the Cold War. Dorril frequently omits relevant information about similar or related Soviet activity, and selectively quotes protagonists to place them in the worst possible light. He has little to say about Soviet concentration camp atrocities (which spanned two decades) or Russian political intimidation and murder in Eastern Europe after the Second World War -- facts that inconveniently undermine his thesis.

Stephen Dorril's humungous (800+pages) history of the U.K.'s foreign intelligence service has a limited value. But for seekers of factual accuracy, reading this book takes care. I examined this volume mainly for its treatment of one of MI6's earlier Cold War adventures - Valuable: the effort to dump Albania's Enver Hoxha. Dorril's fairly thorough account is littered with errors and misinterpretations, i.e. naming Xhafer Deva, a World War II collaborator with Nazi Germany, as a member of a Free Albania Committee set up in the U.S. Deva never fit with the MI6-CIA affiliated FAC set up in Rome and New York. Dorril links directly episodes which, in actual time, were months or years apart, i.e. describing relations of the FAC and Assembly of Captive European Nations; the CIA set up the latter after the Truman administration's "containment" doctrine was dumped. Lest one think this is nitpicking, remember that all these factoids added togther as errors or accuracies can influence a book's value. If one episode is ridden with mistakes, why would one trust that the author's other episodes are any more reliable? Dorril ends most of his paragraphs with a footnote that usually includes multiple sources for what he writes in the paragraph. Far too many footnotes for this book to be a fun read. It is best used by a serious student of espionage who also has other sources on his desk.

A most wonderful book.You won't have the chance of being bored even for one second.Every page is a blockbuster.Meticulously researched and -I believe-the first of its kind in depth of analysis.It will surely be the reference book on the subject for years to come.John Le Carre, you are having a heavy contestant in your field.

As others have said more eloquently than I. However, it is worth repeating (or at least speaking up about it) the fact that the conclusions reached by the author are the worst kind of historical reconstruction.

The Soviet Union is presented as more of a victim of the west rather than a primary cause of what the author would have you believe they were a victim of.

According to the author, the Cold War was the fault of the west, we were the bad guys. As most who have even barely studied history know, things are seldom that black and white. The author poses his theory without ever mentioning all the offenses and atrocities commited by the Soviet Union which gave the west good reason to be deeply concerned.

If you have read Venona or any other more balanced works, you will see this book for what it is and take the facts for what they are worth and leave the subtle attempt at indoctrination out of the picture.

As a book, this isn't well written. As for the facts, it seems to be full of bar discussions, none of them finished or with details. It does introduce many different tales from the history, almost as many on the CIA as the British services. It is true that many of the events would still be covered under the secrets act, but if the author's goal was to give insight into these events, a better writeup of each one, staying on point and following a timeline, would make the 'insights' more credible. At least he got the list of heads of both MI-6 & 5 correct.

I stopped reading this book after 50 pages. It is not a history book. It is utter fantasy. Mr. Dorrill may be respected by somebody...somewhere, but an 800 page book about how the Soviet Union is a victim of the western world is utter drivel. I will not even give this piece of junk to my local library. I am simply going to throw it out and regret the wasted money I spent.

Anyone interested in 20th century world history simply has to read this work. I personally have no interest in 'spycraft' but found (finally!) a truthful and complete accounting of UK/US imperialism and plain thuggery. Believe readers interested in a better understanding of the past and current situtation in the Middle East will, in particular, be fascinated (and disgusted with the decades of Western dastardly deeds and misinformation).

A great book and a must for all spies. It probes deep into the establishment and functioning of this organisation. You will not be disappointed if you love books on spying and related activities