THE SECRETS OF THE SERVICE, British Intelligence and Communist Subversion 1939-51

First Edition.pp. xvi + 447. Black and white photographs and index, uniform toning to foredges else a very good copy. Original black cloth hardcover with gold gilt lettering in red dust wrapper with illustrated lettering. Ever since the unmasking of Burgess and MacLean, or Philby and Blunt, more and more evidence has come to light of communist agents able to penetrate into the very heart of Britain's secret services, particularly MI 5 and MI 6. The success of Soviet espionage and the extent of the damage it caused has never been fully assessed. Anthony Glees begins his balanced and authoritative historical survey with a cogent analysis of British foreign policy towards the Soviet Union and of Stalin's war ambitions once the Nazi forces were driven from Russian soil. He examines Hugh Dalton's role in the establishment of the Special Operations Executive, which was designed to ferment an anti Nazi uprising in occupied Europe, and for the first time reveals a hitherto known Soviet mole at work in its midst. The book goes on to evaluate the development of M I5 for protecting Britain security at home and the success rate of MI 6 in gathering accurate information concerning the secrets of hostile powers. The suspicion which is surrounded Sir Roger Hollis, Britain's leading expert on communist subversion, is shown in a new perspective, as indeed are the motives and conduct of those who have almost assumed a mantle of romance in the wake of Jonh le Carre's fiction and others who up to now have succeeded in retaining an enviable anonimity.…