This fast-moving account by the BBC's Security Correspondent 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.
THE INDEPENDENT
An absorbing and often exhilarating account.
THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST
BBC security correspondant Gordon Corera's ... Read moreilluminating postwar history of Britain's secret intelligence services is told with the brio of a thriller and a good deal more clarity.
THE FINANCIAL TIMES
His readable, breezy book's strength is to present the service's successes and failures within the political context of the times.
Adam Sisman
THE SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE
This book will intrigue anyone with a taste for adventure and an interest in the moral dilemmas of loyalty and disloyalty.
COUNTRY LIFE
The best post-1949 account of British intelligence I have read...this is as good as it gets. And it's a good read.
THE SPECTATOR
Superb new history of British intelligence
THE EVENING STANDARD
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.
THE PEOPLE
Highly readable and well-researched account of the Service...Let's hope the current generation of spooks has learnt from past mistakes.
Con Coughlin
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
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
THE TIMES
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.
Annie Machon
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS
A refreshing...(and) compelling read.
Christopher Silvester
THE DAILY EXPRESS
THE ART OF BETRAYAL tells the history of MI6 in the words of real spies.
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 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
THE SUNDAY TIMES
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