Secret Britain cover art

Secret Britain

A journey through the Second World War's hidden bases and battlegrounds

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Secret Britain

By: Sinclair McKay
Narrated by: Sinclair McKay
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 Discover the stories of the brave men and women who worked, trained and fought across the UK, from Bletchley Park in southern England all the way to Arisaig in northern Scotland, in an unbelievable effort to defeat the Nazis and win the Second World War .

From the outset of the war, most of Britain felt like a mystery even to those who lived there. All road and railway signs were removed up and down the country to thwart potential enemy spies. An invisible web of cunning spread across the United Kingdom; secret laboratories were hidden in marshes, underground bases were built to conceal key strategic plans and grand country houses became secret and silent locations for eccentric boffins to do their confidential cryptography work.

In Secret Britain, Sinclair McKay maps out the UK through the hidden bases and battlegrounds of WWII. These locations are full of history and intrigue, but if you don't know where to look, you might just miss them. Journeying through secret wildernesses, suburbs, underground tunnels and manor houses, Sinclair gives a glimpse into the stories of the incredible people behind the war effort, and shows how you might be able to visit these mysterious and evocative locations yourself.

With his trademark warmth and compassion, Sinclair unearths the truths of the war that have remained under layers of secrecy since the war was won in 1945.

(P) 2021 Headline Publishing Group Ltd©2021 Sinclair McKay Europe Freedom & Security Great Britain Military Politics & Government Espionage England War United Kingdom

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Lost Britain cover art
A Man Called Intrepid cover art
Fire and Movement cover art
Britain's Secret Defences cover art
The Spies of Winter cover art
The Walls Have Ears cover art
Cinderella Boys cover art
The Latter Days at Colditz cover art
Seashaken Houses cover art
A Brief History of the Cold War cover art
The Padre cover art
Mosquito Men cover art
Into Iraq cover art
The Soviet Century cover art
Portillo's Hidden History of Britain cover art

Critic reviews

Engrossing . . . well-researched, powerfully written, and balanced. For all interested in military history and World War II.
Secret Britain successfully combines coverage of the importance of the interception and deciphering of messages in the UK and abroad, with insights into the private lives of the employees who did this work.
All stars
Most relevant
Loved the info in the book and the details of the closest stations etc is 1st class.

The narrator wasn't the best for me but thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned some things I didn't know existed.
Only downside was some of the facts on the parts I did know were not 100% correct but that didnt taje away from the enjoyment

Great info

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found this Audible book very interesting with facts & information that one did not know : loose lips cost lives .
The narrator made the journey round hidden sites in the UK effortless. With gusto & passion.
The only let down was I felt there must be many more sites to be uncovered that wasn’t covered.

Secret performance of the British Public.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great listen, well researched and well narrated. well worth getting in my opinion 5/5 very good

Fully recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great listen with some amazing stories and facts with some interesting places to visit .

Great history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I dithered between 4 or 5 stars at first as some of the stories won't be particularly new to keen WW2 history fans. But Sinclair made up for it as the book went on. The enjoyable twist on the normal secret history book is the social and the geography aspect, it adds interest and brings the stories alive.

At times McKay's narration style is more personalised, like a podcast. No bad thing actually, it's like a mate giving you tips on how to have a day out!

lovely stuff

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews