Learning from the Secret Past ─ Cases in British Intelligence History

Dover (international relations, Loughborough U., England) and Goodman (war studies, King's College London, England) present 11 papers that delve into the history of British intelligence in order to draw lessons for current practices. The papers examine issues of organization and oversight, political interference in intelligence (such as in the case of Iraqi non-existent weapons of mass destruction), counterinsurgency and counterintelligence in Malaya and Northern Ireland, and avoiding surprise (looking at the cases of the Suez Canal Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis in particular). Each paper is accompanied by an illustrative primary document. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Robert Dover is a senior lecturer in international relations at Loughborough University (UK) and the author ofThe Europeanization of British Defence Policy, 1997-2005.

Michael S. Goodman is a senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, official historian of the Joint Intelligence Committee (UK), and author ofSpying on the Nuclear Bear: Anglo-American Intelligence and the Soviet Bomb.