Secret History by Simon Ball
A provocative, rigorously researched study that questions what we think we know about British intelligence."Simon Ball has written an important and highly innovative study of early attempts by British intelligence agencies to reconstruct their own historiesSecret History demonstrates that the 'after action reports' produced by Britain's secret agencies tell us as much about the self-image they wished to project (both to themselves and to the rest of Whitehall) as about their genuine attempts to learn lessons from the past. The 'secret histories' succeeded in establishing the 'triumphant' narrative of the intelligence, providing the essential bases for military and political decision-making that has prevailed in both the popular and academic literature on intelligence ever since. This excellent book provides a new angle from which to understand the British government machine in the era of the two world wars." Peter Jackson, University of Glasgow
"Secret History shines a light on the production of internal secret histories of Britain's intelligence organisations. Internal histories of intelligence, not for public consumption, were commissioned with a variety of goals in mind: to show that intelligence is a vital tool in the defence of national security that should be respected and well funded; to remind policymakers of the dangers that can result when intelligence is ignored or neglected; and to ensure that institutional memory was not lost when people retired or moved to other corners of Whitehall. In short, there is a complex politics behind the production of internal histories that has not been properly understood or appreciated." Christopher R. Moran, University of Warwick
"Secret History expertly offers a 'history of histories,' navigating the world of internally published histories within early British intelligence from the First World War to post Second World War and into the 1950s. It offers a new view into themes of defining intelligence, failure, and the place of intelligence within politics through the lens of agency histories, lending its detailed discussion for the potential of a wide array of coming research." Journal of Intelligence History
“Secret History is a thought-provoking work for scholars of intelligence history and the British government. Ball cleverly applies concepts of cultural capital to the intersectionality of the Commonwealth’s nation-state, class, administrative, and security politics…. [His] work is excellent.” Journal of Military History
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780228000822 |
| ISBN 10 | 0228000823 |
| Title | Secret History |
| Author | Simon Ball |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | McGill-Queen's University Press |
| Year published | 2020-04-16 |
| Number of pages | 272 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |