GCHQ EPUB ED EB
About this book
As we become ever-more aware of how our governments "eavesdrop" on our conversations, here is a gripping exploration of this unknown realm of the British secret service: Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ).
GCHQ is the successor to the famous Bletchley Park wartime code-breaking organisation and is the largest and most secretive intelligence organisation in the country. During the war, it commanded more staff than MI5 and MI6 combined and has produced a number of intelligence triumphs as well as some notable failures. Since the end of the Cold War, it has played a pivotal role in shaping Britain's secret state. Still, we know almost nothing about it.
In this ground-breaking book, Richard J. Aldrich traces GCHQ's evolvement from a wartime code breaking operation based in the Bedfordshire countryside to one of the world's leading espionage organisations. Focusing in part on GCHQ's remarkably intimate relationship with its American partner, the National Security Agency (NSA), Aldrich also examines both the impact of the Second World War on GCHQ and the breakthroughs made after the war was over.
Today's GCHQ struggles with some of the most difficult issues of our time. A leading force of the state's security efforts against militant terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda, they are also involved in fundamental issues that will mould the future of British society. Compelling and revelatory, Aldrich's book is espionage writing of the utmost importance.
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Information
Appendix 1
Directors of Government Communications Headquarters
| Sir Alistair Denniston | 1921-1944 | |
| Sir Edward Travis | 1944-1952 | |
| Sir Eric Jones | 1952-1960 | |
| Sir Clive (Joe) Loehnis | 1960-1964 | |
| Sir Leonard (Joe) Hooper | 1965-1973 | |
| Arthur (Bill) Bonsall | 1973-1978 | |
| Sir Brian Tovey | 1978-1983 | |
| Sir Peter Marychurch | 1983-1989 | |
| Sir John Anthony Adye | 1989-1996 | |
| Sir David Omand | 1996-1998 | |
| Kevin Tebbit | 1998-1998 | |
| Sir Francis Richards | 1998-2003 | |
| David Pepper | 2003-2008 | |
| Iain Lobban | 2008-2014 | |
| Robert Hannigan | 2014-2017 | |
| Jeremy Fleming | 2017- | |
Directors of Communications Electronics Security Group and its predecessors
Director of the Cypher Policy Committee
| Sir Stewart Menzies | 1942-1944 | |
Director of the Cypher Policy Board
| Sir Stewart Menzies | 1944-1952 | |
| Secretary to the Cipher Policy Board | ||
| Captain Edmund Wilson RN | 1944-1947 | |
| Captain T.R.W. Burton Miller RN | 1947-1952 | |
Directors of London Communications Security Agency
| General William Penney | 1953-1957 | |
| Captain R.F.T (Fred) Stannard RN | 1957-1963 | |
Director of London Communications-Electronics Security Agency
| Captain R.F.T (Fred) Stannard RN | 1964-1965 | |
Director of the Communications-Electronic Security Department, 1965-1969
| Captain R.F.T (Fred) Stannard RN | 1965-1969 | |
Directors of Communications-Electronic Security Group 1969-2015
| Air Vice Marshall Arthur Foden | 1969-1975 | |
| Brian Tovey | 1975-1978 | |
| Dr John Johnson | 1978-1980 | |
| Major Gen Alistair Anderson | 1980-1985 | |
| Paul Foster | 1985-1989 | |
| Air Vice Marshall John Porter | 1989-1991 | |
| Andrew Saunders | 1991-1998 | |
| Richard Walton | 1999-2002 | |
| Huw Rees | 2002-2005 | |
| Dr John Widdowson | 2005-2008 | |
| Jon Ashton, Dir. of Information Assurance | 2008-2011 | |
| Rick Crosby, Technical Di... |
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Maps
- Note on Terminology
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: GCHQ – The Last Secret?
- The 1940s: Bletchley Park and Beyond
- The 1950s: Fighting the Electronic War
- The 1960s: Space, Spy Ships and Scandals
- The 1970s: Turbulence and Terror
- The 1980s: Into the Thatcher Era
- After 1989: GCHQ Goes Global
- Picture Section
- Appendix 1: Directors of GCHQ and NCSC
- Appendix 2: GCHQ Timeline
- Appendix 3: GCHQ Organisation in 1946
- Appendix 4: GCHQ Organisation in 1970
- Appendix 5: GCHQ Organisation in 1998
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Acknowledgements
- From the reviews of GCHQ
- About the Author
- By the Same Author
- About the Publisher