The Secret World

Behind the Curtain of British Intelligence in World War II and the Cold War

Hugh Trevor-Roper, E. D. Harrison, Edward Harrison

• Editore: I.B. Tauris
• Anno: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780857737038
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Historia
• Categoria: Segunda Guerra Mundial

During World War II, Britain enjoyed spectacular success in the secret war between hostile intelligence services, enabling a substantial and successful expansion of British counter-espionage which continued to grow in the Cold War era. Hugh Trevor-Roper's experiences working in the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) during the war left a profound impression on him and he later observed the world of intelligence with particular discernment. To Trevor-Roper, who was always interested in the historical dimension of the present and was fully alive to the historical significance of the era in which he lived, the subjects of wartime intelligence and the complex espionage networks that developed in the Cold War period were as worthy of profound investigation and reflection as events from the more-distant past. Expressing his observations through some of his most ironic and entertaining correspondence, articles and reviews, Trevor-Roper wrote vividly about some of the greatest intelligence characters of the age – from Kim Philby and Michael Straight to the Germans Admiral Canaris and Otto John. The coherence, depth and historical vision which unites these writings can only be glimpsed when they are brought together from the scattered publications in which they appeared, and when read beside his unpublished, private reflections. The Secret World unites Trevor-Roper's writings on the subject of intelligence – including the full text of The Philby Affair and some of his personal letters to leading figures. Based on original material and extensive supplementary research by E.D.R Harrison, this book is a sharp, revealing and personal first-hand account of the intelligence world in World War II and the Cold War.

Hugh Trevor-Roper was the most brilliant historian of his generation. An expert in the history of early modern Britain and Nazi Germany, he was Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford University and latterly Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He received a life peerage in 1979. He was the author of numerous books, including his famous investigation of Hitler’s last days. During World War II, Trevor-Roper served in the Secret Intelligence Service, giving him a remarkable insight into the work of the intelligence services in Britain. His Wartime Journals were published by I.B.Tauris in 2012.

Edward Harrison is an historian and writer specialising in World War II. He attended Trevor-Roper’s lectures while at Oxford University and has taught history in Britain and the US. He has held Visiting Fellowships at Oxford and an Anthony de Rothschild Fellowship in History of the Churchill Trust. He is the author of The Young Kim Philby: Soviet Spy and British Intelligence Officer (2012).

Hugh Trevor-Roper

THE SECRET WORLD

Behind the Curtain of British Intelligence in World War II and the Cold War

EDITED BY EDWARD HARRISON

Foreword by Sir Michael Howard

Published in 2014 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

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Distributed in the United States and Canada

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Copyright main text © 2014 The Literary Estate of Lord Dacre of Glanton unless otherwise indicated

Copyright foreword © 2014 Sir Michael Howard

Copyright preface, introduction, editorial matter and notes © 2014 Edward Harrison

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

The right of Hugh Trevor-Roper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by The Literary Estate of Lord Dacre of Glanton in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978 1 78076 208 1

eISBN: 978 0 85773 703 8

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

Typeset by JCS Publishing Services Ltd, www.jcs-publishing.co.uk

Contents

List of Illustrations

Editor’s Acknowledgements

Foreword by Sir Michael Howard

Abbreviations and Glossary

Editor’s Preface

Editor’s Introduction: Hugh Trevor-Roper’s Secret War

1 Sideways into SIS

2 Admiral Canaris

3 The Philby Affair

4 Deception

5 Ultra

6 Percy Sillitoe and Dick White

7 Anthony Blunt

8 Michael Straight

9 Peter Wright

10 Otto John and Reinhard Gehlen

Appendix 1: Correspondence with Patrick Reilly

Appendix 2: Charles Stuart on Kim Philby

Editor’s Notes

Bibliography

Plates

Illustrations

1 Hugh Trevor-Roper: an informal photograph taken in Christ Church, c.1950.

2 Lady Alexandra Howard-Johnston in her gown to meet Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in May 1948. She married Trevor-Roper in October 1954. (Xenia Dennen)

3 Sir Stewart Menzies, Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service, 1939–52. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

4 Peter Koch de Gooreynd, who kept Menzies company at the bar of White’s. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

5 Sir Dick White, the only person to become head successively of both MI5 and SIS, and Trevor-Roper’s influential mentor.

6 Charles Stuart: Christ Church historian and Trevor-Roper’s first recruit to his wireless intelligence unit. (Christ Church, Oxford)

7 Rachel and Patrick Reilly, the diplomat who effectively vetoed Philby’s becoming Chief of SIS. (Bodleian Library, Oxford)

8 Broadway Buildings, located opposite St James’s Park underground station, provided SIS with headquarters from 1926 to 1964. (Westminster Council Archives)

9 Kim Philby, Soviet spy and British intelligence officer. (Getty)

10 Eleanor Philby: the spy’s third wife, whom he abandoned in Beirut. She followed him to Moscow, where he left her again. (Getty)

11 Melinda Maclean: the American wife of the Soviet spy Donald Maclean. Her relationship with Philby contributed to the collapse of his third marriage. (Getty)

12 Michael Straight: an affluent American recruited at Cambridge to spy for the Soviet Union. (Ramsay and Muspratt, Cambridge)

13 Admiral Canaris: the head of the German Secret Service from 1935 to 1944. (Bundesarchiv)

14 Otto John, the first head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the German equivalent of MI5. (Getty)

Editor’s Acknowledgements

My first debt is to Blair Worden, literary executor of Lord Dacre of Glanton, who generously invited me to undertake this edition. His thoughtful advice and unfailing encouragement were essential to the book’s completion. Also vital was the expert and invaluable help from Judith Curthoys, archivist of Christ Church, who guided me through the Dacre Papers. I have been very fortunate in the scholars who have previously studied Lord Dacre’s career, and owe a particular obligation to Adam Sisman and Richard Davenport-Hines. Sir Michael Howard, who succeeded Lord Dacre as Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, most kindly agreed to write the foreword.

Rodney Allan painstakingly checked the transcription of The Philby Affair and Admiral Canaris. I am also grateful to others who have generously provided assistance, in particular Phyllis Acheampong, Anthony P. Adamthwaite, Richard J. Aldrich, Eilish Burke, Susan and William Chater, Joanna Chaundy, E.L. Harrison, Anna Henderson, the late M.R.D. Foot, Laurence Guymer, Patrick Hederman, Roy Hughes, Peter Jackson, Clare Kavanagh, Helen Langley, Vicky Mitchell, Peter Pulzer, Jane Reilly, Alysoun Saunders, Gina Thomas, Martin Thomas, W.E.S. Thomas, Danielle Wall and Roberta Wiener.

I wish to thank the following individuals and institutions for their helpful permission to use or consult material:

The Literary Estate of Lord Dacre of Glanton for permission to publish Hugh Trevor-Roper’s essays and letters concerning secret intelligence;

The Bodleian Library and Jane Reilly for permission to publish letters of her father, Sir Patrick Reilly, and a photograph of her parents;

Susan Chater and William Stuart for permission to quote from the papers of Charles Stuart and to republish two of his articles;

The Very Reverend Christopher Lewis, Dean of Christ Church, for permission to reproduce an article from the Christ Church Annual Report of 1993;

Sir Michael Howard for permission to quote from Strategic Deception;

Immediate Media Company London Limited for a licence to republish a quote and an article from the Listener;

The Independent for permission to republish an article;

The New York Review of Books for permission to republish three articles;

The Warden and Fellows of Nuffield College for permission to reproduce quotations from Lord Cherwell’s papers;

The Spectator for permission to reproduce two articles by Charles Stuart;

The Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives for quotations from the Liddell Hart Papers;

Xenia Dennen for permission to reproduce the photograph of her mother, Lady Alexandra Trevor-Roper.

Every effort has been made to trace the holders of copyright in text or photographs. If any have been inadvertently omitted, acknowledgement will be made at the earliest opportunity.

At I.B.Tauris, Lester Crook not only helped in the planning of the book but also read the typescript and suggested invaluable clarifications. Joanna Godfrey has been an exemplary editor, providing very prompt and sympathetic support throughout the project. Alexandra Higson oversaw the meticulous production of the book, which Jessica Cuthbert-Smith copy-edited with her customary precision and felicity. Zoe Ross expertly compiled the index and Steve Williamson proofread.

My greatest debt is to Hugh Trevor-Roper himself. When I met him as an undergraduate his kindness completely belied his formidable reputation. In later years he sent me most helpful letters clarifying the mysteries of secret intelligence. Above all I am grateful to him for writing essays which still held my attention after repeated readings and which provided distraction during the most mundane of editorial tasks.

Foreword

by Sir Michael Howard

Many British academics served with the Intelligence Services during World War II, but very few breathed a word about their activities. For many there was little temptation to do so. Even those who served in that holiest of holies, Bletchley Park, were often little more than cogs in a machine, knowing as little as any...

Indice dei contenuti

• List of Illustrations
• Editor's Acknowledgements
• Foreword by Sir Michael Howard
• Abbreviations and Glossary
• Editor's Preface
• Editor's Introduction
• 1 Sideways into SIS
• 2 Admiral Canaris
• 3 The Philby Affair
• 4 Deception
• 5 Ultra
• 6 Percy Sillitoe and Dick White
• 7 Anthony Blunt
• 8 Michael Straight
• 9 Peter Wright
• 10 Otto John and Reinhard Gehlen
• Appendix 1: Correspondance with Patrick Reilly
• Appendix 2: Charles Stuart on Kim Philby
• Editor's Notes
• Bibliography