Secrets and Lies (review of some intelligence books)

Mr Denis McShane has reviewed five intelligence-related books in the
current Financial Times weekend FT Magazine (Sept 3/4 2005, issue 121).
Although only one is 'on topic' for this list, I felt that members might
like to know of this collective review in a magazine that might be
better respected in official circles than the usual rubbishy weekend
mags.


Intelligence co-operation between Poland and Great Britain during World
War II. By Tessa Stirling, Dria Nalecz & Tadeusz Dubicki (Vallentine
Mitchell, GBP 55, 616 pp)

A life in secrets: the story of Vera Atkins and the lost agents of SOE.
By Sarah Helm (Little, Brown, GBP 20, 496 pp)

Brandenburg. By Henry Porter (Orion, GBP 10, 400 pp)

My life in the CIA. By Harry Matthews (Dalkey Archive, GBP 8.99, 249 pp)

My life as a spy. By Leslie Woodhead (Macmillan, GBP 16.99, 256 pp)


MacShane discusses the 'disappearance' of much documentation about
Polish-Allied intelligence sharing, suggesting that files were destroyed
first to placate the Soviet Union and later to prevent their access to
the material. I am in no way qualified to comment on this, but perhaps
others might like to. Were the documents physically destroyed (MacShane
hints that they were burned) or were they just buried a few layers
deeper in the restricted archives?

It seems quite a thoughtful 2-page review for the non-specialist. The FT
states that Denis MacShane is a Labour MP and was an FO Minister until
recently.


-- 
Martin H Evans     e-mail: mhe1000-KWPb1pKIrIJaa/[email protected]
  Maritime Museums in the British Isles:
http://www.cus.cam.ac.uk/~mhe1000/marmus.htm
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