The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion [Hardcover]

Marcia Mitchell (Author), Thomas Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008

British secret service officer Katharine Gun's only crime was telling the truth, but she paid a steep price when she exposed a U.S.-U.K. spy operation to secure UN authorization for the Iraq invasion. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this book tells the story of the young woman Sean Penn describes as "a hero of the human spirit."

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

No one has had this story to tell before, because no one else--including myself--has ever done what Katharine Gun did: tell secret truths at personal risk, before an imminent war, in time, possibly, to avert it. Hers was the most important--and courageous--leak I've ever seen, more timely and potentially more effective than the Pentagon Papers.
--Daniel Ellsberg, former Defense and State Department official

One of the crucial untold stories of the Iraq war is told with great passion and sensitivity by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell. It is fitting tribute to the courage of Katharine Gun, who blew the whistle on transatlantic dirty tricks at the highest levels of government in London and Washington. A morality tale for the 21st century.
--Martin Bright, New Statesman

Katharine Gun packs more guts per square inch than anyone I know. So far, the U.S. media have kept the wraps on her important story; now you can find it all in this gripping narrative.
--Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

It is well worth reading this book, which strongly encourages everyone--on both sides of the Atlantic--to think about what they would do facing the same ethical question Katharine faced.
--The Right Honourable Clare Short, MP, House of Commons

A deeply researched account that seamlessly interweaves the intelligence scandals of the Iraq War with the touchingly human story of a young British spy who followed her conscience.
--Hugh Wilford, The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America

A riveting story about the power of conscience fueled by intrepid courage--one that needs telling if only to lay bare the American news media's contempt for the public's right to know.
--The Honorable Edward D. Bayda, former Chief Justice of Saskatchewan

This book offers American readers a very human introduction to Katharine Gun and uses her story to explore what makes whistleblowers risk everything in the service of truth.
--Marcy Wheeler, Anatomy of Deceit: How the Bush Administration Used the Media to Sell the Iraq War and Out a Spy

Every once in a while there comes a Katherine Gun, filled with conscience and conviction, to remind us of a basic rule of life: think for yourself and question authority.
--Dr. Peter O. Whitmer, When the Going Gets Weird: The Twisted Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson

About the Author

Mitchell raised six children while taking care of her husband who had very early Alzheimer's.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Polipoint Press (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981576915
• ISBN-13: 978-0981576916
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,780,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Arm Chair Generals, December 15, 2010

By 

Lynn Eyermann - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion (Hardcover)

... those in Congress and the Executive office, anyway, needed to be stopped! I'm glad that Katharine had the guts to say, "Wait a minute ... that's a bald-faced lie." As those were the very same words I was uttering during the whole lead-up to the invasion, although I didn't have the proof sitting in my hands. If I knew then (or knew that I knew) what I know now about the stupidity of the whole fiasco, I would have done the same thing! Although the book, as Pen Name states, is basically built on the sensationalism of the British press, if you are any kind of writer, you know that there are very fine lines that can be crossed without being put on the block yourself. The authros did a fantastic job of pointing out just how creepy government can be (British or American) when the attack is on them.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Thin Material; More Suitable for A Magazine Article, December 29, 2008

By 

Pen Name - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion (Hardcover)

Even though this book is being published five years after GCHQ Chinese linguist Katherine Gun leaked an American government memorandum calling for a joint British-American "surge" in electronic espionage directed against some countries who were sitting on the United Nations Security Council, there is precious little new in this book. One could get most of the gist of this book merely by reading back issues of British newspapers. This book really should have been just a long magazine article. What's more, the full, leaked memorandum itself is not even included in the book. (If you want to read the original memo you can find it at: [...]).

It is only in the second half of the book that we find out much about Katherine Gun's rather unique background. While Mrs. Gun publicly claims that if she had to do it all over again she would still leak the memo - and is hailed by many for her stance - I believe that she really would not do so, especially knowing now how much pressure she and here husband would be under. Mr. Gun (I expect his name is pronounced "goon") is an ethnic Turk who married Mrs. Gun only a few months before her getting caught up in a violation of the Official Secrets Act. In what seems like retaliation for his wife's actions, he was arrested for violating his visa and came witin an inch of deportation.

Inflamed by moral outrage at what the US Government was proposing to the British, Mrs. Gun was obviously not aware that at the United Nations, itself, most UN representatives automatically assumed that they were spied upon. And despite her own job in Signals Intelligence, Mrs. Gun apparently believed - sometimes, at least - that "gentlemen do not read each other's mail." Now that really is naive.

Ultimately, Mrs. Gun is a very lucky young woman. If she had been in the old Russian intelligence service she would very likely have been executed for what she did. As it is, she risked years in British prison. In retrospect, her gesture seems to have been misguided, Quixotic, and rash, and ultimately had almost no effect on the British-American rush to war. It does not - and did not - take a rocket scientist to understand that the US and Britain were committed to attacking Iraq, UN Security Council resolution or not.

I also believe that Mrs. Gun is being used, not least by the people who are profiting from this book and from her appearances on the lecture circuit. I wish Mrs. Gun all the best, but I think she should return to life as a teacher, linguist, and mother, and not be drawn in by all the hype about what a heroine she was. In all honesty, I believe it's time for this young wife and mother to thank her lucky stars and stand back from the fray.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Work on An Event That Needs More Attention, October 30, 2008

By 

Michael Harmanos (Costa Mesa, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion (Hardcover)

Taut, crisp, and intriguing. I enjoyed it as an exercise in psychology. What motivates someone to throw the wrench into the process?