by Mark Urban
First published 1996
Mark Urban exposes the systematic failures plaguing British intelligence operations from 1985 onward, when Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power transformed the global espionage landscape. Urban methodically catalogs the missteps and miscalculations that have undermined every major British intelligence service during this pivotal period. His investigation reveals how MI5, MI6, and other agencies have struggled to adapt their Cold War methodologies to a rapidly changing world. The author challenges readers to question whether Britain's traditional intelligence apparatus remains fit for purpose, arguing that outdated organizational structures inherited from decades of East-West confrontation have become liabilities rather than assets. Urban's analysis demonstrates how these institutional failures have compromised Britain's national security interests and damaged its international standing in the intelligence community.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, military-history, espionage
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: institutional-failure, organizational-culture
Setting: Britain, United Kingdom
Period: 1985
326 pages · Hardcover · Faber and Faber