Secret History by Simon Ball PAPERBACK 9780228000822

Secret HistoryWriting the Rise of Britain's Intelligence Services\nAuthor(s): Simon Ball\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, Canada\nImprint: McGill-Queen's University Press\nISBN-13: 9780228000822, 978-0228000822\nSynopsis\nAs John le Carr's fictional intelligence men admit, it was the case histories - constructed narratives serving shifting agendas - that shaped the British intelligence machine, rather than their personal experience of secret operations.\n\nSecret History demonstrates that a critical scrutiny of internal \""after action\"" assessments of intelligence prepared by British officials provides an invaluable and original perspective on the emergence of British intelligence culture over a period stretching from the First World War to the early Cold War. The historical record reflects personal value judgments about what qualified as effective techniques and organization, and even who could rightfully be called an intelligence officer. The history .