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BRITISH secret intelligence service does
not exist and none of its operations have
ever taken place – this has been the
gist of government policy over the years
in regard to its covert agencies, chiefly
MI5 (domestic subversion) and MI6
(overseas intelligence). Doctor
Christopher Andrew, a fellow and senior
tutor in history at Corpus Christi
college, Cambridge, has written a book
– a big book – called Secret
Service: the Making of the British
Intelligence Community.
It is the first scholarly
study of the subject. Previously the
feeling among historians was that the
topic was far too shrouded in mystery
(and thus myth) to be studied. And that
the popular image of the James Bond-type
secret agent and/or the startling
revelation school of journalism augured
badly for a serious and non-sensational
approach.
In his room at Corpus
(with the sun shining over the quad and
the distant cries of "Howzaat"
being carried on a light breeze from
Fenners, etc.) Doctor Andrew told me:
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