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MI6

Life and Death in the British Secret Service

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About this listen

 From the host of The Rest is Classified podcast, this is the secret history of MI6 - from the Cold War to the present day.

'The history of MI6 in the words of real spies' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'The best post-1949 account of British intelligence I have read' SPECTATOR
'As gripping as any novel' INDEPENDENT

The British Secret Service has been cloaked in secrecy and shrouded in myth since it was created over a century ago. Our understanding of what it is to be a spy has been largely defined by the fictional worlds of James Bond and John le Carré. In MI6, security expert Gordon Corera provides a unique and unprecedented insight into this secret world and the reality that lies behind the fiction.

It tells the story of how the secret service has changed since the end of the Second World War, revealing the danger, the drama, the intrigue, the moral ambiguities and the occasional comedy that comes with working for British intelligence.

The grand dramas of the Cold War and its aftershocks - the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 9/11 and the Iraq war - are the backdrop for the human stories of the individual spies at the centre of the narrative. Corera draws on the first-hand accounts of those who have spied, lied and in some cases nearly died in service of the state. They range from the spymasters to the agents they ran to their sworn enemies. From Afghanistan to the Congo, from Moscow to the back streets of London, these are the voices of those who have worked on the front line of Britain's secret wars. And the truth is often more remarkable than the fiction. 20th Century 21st Century Espionage Europe Freedom & Security Great Britain Modern Politics & Government True Crime Military England War Thought-Provoking Exciting Cold War Imperialism Russia Africa British Intelligence

Critic reviews

Superb (Matthew d'Ancona)
The best post-1949 account of British intelligence I have read (Alan Judd)
His analysis is shrewd, his judgement sound . . . [the book's] strength is to present stories of the secret service's successes and failures within the political and strategic context of the times (Adam Sisman)
Tells the history of MI6 in the words of real spies
Compelling
Corera, the BBC's security correspondent, has enjoyed privileged access to key spy players from the past few decades and, writing in an engaging style, he picks up the story of the MI6 at the point where the "official" history grinds to a halt after the Second World War
As a good journalist and a reader of spy novels, Corera presents his material as fast-paced stories, from the covert diplomacy of the Cold War to recent and current security concerns in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and he humanises the grand dramas of a duplicitous trade (Iain Finlayson)
[A] highly readable and well-researched account of the Service
Corera provides a unique insight into how British intelligence has changed since the Second World War and how our spymasters reacted to major crises such as the September 11 attacks and the Iraq war. A fascinating read
A fine overview, well told and well documented (Hayden Peake, CIA Library)
This book will intrigue anyone with a taste for adventure and an interest in the moral dilemmas of loyalty and disloyalty
Illuminating . . . told with the brio of a thriller and a good deal more clarity
Absorbing and often exhilarating
This fast-moving account . . . reveals that the true story of Britain's overseas intelligence service is as gripping as any novel . . . Corera works wonders in untangling the murky, convoluted doings of the organisation through the decades
All stars
Most relevant
This is a great overview of MI6 from its conception to the 2010s. Full of interesting insights and interviews with key individuals.

Brilliant and well read

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/The history of MI6/SIS/ THE Secret Intelligence Service is gripping from it's very beginning in 1909, right up to the Second Gulf War, and the removal from power of Sadam Hussain, the attacks on the twin towers in New York,,and the rise of Isis. Since the book was written we have had the poisoning of the Shcripals, and the rise of China and the cyber attacks of villains of a variety of kinds whose intentions are nearly all malign, 9ften sponsored by Sovereign States who wish to do us harm. I am sure there there is enough for Gordon Corera to produce a second volume covering the last ten years, oh and don't forget Covid,!

This is a masterpiece of of a story, backed by painstaking research, which certainly kept me entertained from beginning to end.

Gordon Carera's reading' is also excellent , with clear pronunciation, and 4eading at a pace which keeps the story moving without sounding rushed. There is mercilessly no mumbling, which seems to be in vogue on TV at the moment.

All in all a really good read.

"Our Spooks are as good as anyone's,"

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was interesting in parts but completely boring overall not much excitement considering there talking about nearly a century of espionage

interesting and boring

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First off - the audio in this is the worst I’ve ever heard. It’s like a very bad zoom call. However with careful placing of cushions you can get a dry-ish sound without all the reverb and enjoy it. The content is brilliant. I almost refunded this but I’m going to stick with it. Shame the audio is disgraceful cos the narration is pretty good. In my opinion audible should be giving every person who has purchased this a free credit due to the disgraceful audio.

Terrible audio. If you get through the audio issue then it’s great content

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This was only the history of MI6 from the end of WWII. Nothing from prior to that, and no real in depth study of what it did cover. I would buy this if you wanted an overview but not if you want a comprehensive history. The narrator was quite good though.

Mediocre

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