The Real Special Relationship

The True Story of How the British and US Secret Services Work Together

Michael Smith

• Publisher: Arcade
• Year: 2023
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781956763706
• Subtopic: Modern British History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Gripping, deeply researched, and authoritative, the history of one of the closest intelligence and security relationships in the world The Special Relationship between the United States and Britain is touted by politicians when it suits their purpose and, as frequently, dismissed as myth, not least by the media. Yet the truth is that the two countriesare bound together more closely than either is to any other ally. In The Real Special Relationship, Michael Smithreveals how it all began, eighty years ago, when a top-secret visit by four American codebreakers toBletchley Parkin February 1941—ten months before the US entered World WarII—marked the start of a close collaboration between the intellitence services of the two nations. When that war ended and theCold Warbegan, both sides recognized that the way they worked together to decode German and Japanese ciphers could be used to counter theSoviet threat. They laid the foundation for the behind-the-scenes intelligence sharing that has continued—despite rivalries among the services and occasional political conflict and public disputes between the two nations—through the collapse of the Soviet Union, 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to the threats of the present moment. Smith, who served inBritish military intelligence, brings together a fascinating range of characters, from Winston Churchill andIan Fleming to John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, andEdward Snowden. Supported by in-depth interviews and a broad range of personal contacts in the intelligence community, he takes the reader into the workings ofMI6, the CIA, the NSA, and all those who strive to keep us safe. Sir John Scarlett, former chief of MI6, has written the introduction, and Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and the NSA, has provided the foreword.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Author’s Note
• Foreword by Michael Hayden
• Introduction by Sir John Scarlett
• Prologue
• 1 Two Mongrels Meet
• 2 ‘Have a Rye, Sister’
• 3 ‘Wild Bill’ Enters the Ring
• 4 Sharing the Tricks of the Trade
• 5 The Cold War Begins
• 6 Playing Moscow at Its Own Game
• 7 Valuable or Worthless?
• 8 The Korean War
• 9 The Iran Coup
• 10 Dragon Lady
• 11 ‘Waltzing over Suez while Hungary Burns’
• 12 The Cuban Missile Crisis
• 13 ‘The Lady’s Virginity Has Been Questioned’
• 14 A Capitalist Running Dog’s View from Hanoi
• 15 Packing a Punch
• 16 The Prague Spring
• 17 The Lowest Point
• 18 The Greatest of Them All
• 19 ‘Do We Still Need the Brits?’
• 20 America’s Avenging Angels
• 21 The Pivot to the Pacific
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author
• Plates