A History of the British Secret Service

From Back Cover: "'A History of British Secret Service' traces the development and organization of Intelligence and counter-espionage services in the United Kingdom from the reign of Henry VII to the present day. It illuminates a fascinating gallery of heroes and villains, from the Elizabethan Sir Francis Walsingham, who bankrupted himself paying for an efficient spy service out of his own pocket, to the notorious Philby, Burgess, Maclean and Blunt. The Secret Service has played its part in every major military and political event of the last 400 years and Richard Deacon's hard-hitting study analyzes its stranger-than-fiction coups and behind-the-scenes machinations, its brilliant successes and alarming failures. It explores the growing importance of the Signals Intelligence and cryptography section, and states clearly the guidelines under which our present Secret Service acts."