The Perfect English Spy by Tom Bower
An in-depth look at Dick White, a former teacher who worked his way up to become the reputable head of the British counterintelligence department, reveals a spectacular career that spanned from the start of World War II to the “Spycatcher Affair.” Sir Dick White, who oversaw SIS [MI6] from 1956 to 1968 and MI5 from 1953 to 1956, is profiled in Bower’s book. In other words, Old Etonians, gentlemen, hoodwinking the Establishment, all the way through the trauma of the Cambridge spies.
The Perfect English Spy by Tom Bower
Amazon.com
It is a well-written, wonderful story. But it should be called The Perfectly English Spy. He was a spy manager, not a skilled spy, possibly not even a spy at all. He never pursued people like Blunt, Burgess, Maclean, Philby, and many others as a harder leader would have and should have done because he was so intimidated by people from the supposed upper classes. Years after their perfidy was exposed, they continued to cause significant harm. Nevertheless, a reasonably thorough account of an interesting time in our country’s history.
The book is a first-rate examination of the post-World War II security services in the UK; it is comparable to “Smileys People” in real life. The level of blatant classism and rivalry amongst the various divisions and members of the various services is almost amusing!
A lot of the later works on this topic are built on the outline of the Cambridge spy ring case, which is among the greatest I’ve ever read. To everyone interested in this topic, I wholeheartedly suggest this wonderful book.
This is an interesting account of a pivotal period in contemporary history when the UK/US relationship was just getting off to a shaky start and MI5 and the SIS began donning long pants. A must-read!
