Overview

Drawing on previously undisclosed personal papers, this biography of Walter Bell by award-winning author Jimmy Burns gives a remarkable insight into the working of British Intelligence. He was at heart of the emerging intelligence special relationship between Britain and America before, during and immediately after WW2 - the very time that MI6 had been penetrated by Russian intelligence. He was acquainted with Philby, Burgess and Maclean. Moving to MI5 Bell had postings in Kenya, India, and the West Indies, playing a crucial role in the passing power of power to newly independent governments, and developing close ties with agents of influence at the highest levels in the former colonies, from journalists and judges to generals and independence heroes. Back home he was intimately involved in operations to limit the reputation damage provoked by the media outcry over the Cambridge Five affair and suspected KGB misinformation about further alleged Soviet agents at the highest level of the British state. He was rewarded for his service with a CMG and the US Medal of Freedom.

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9781916556164

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Reviews

'The book is well written. A Faithful Spy makes for a welcome addition to the existing historiography of international relations during the twentieth century, and of the British secret state.' -- Dr Paul Winter * Times Literary Supplement * 'The interlocking world of US and UK intelligence is illuminated in this biography of Walter Bell, an MI5 and MI6 officer who sat at the heart of the development of the post-1945 'special relationship'. Burns, a former FT security and intelligence correspondent, draws on previously undisclosed personal papers to give an insight into the workings of Britain's spooks.' -- n/A * Financial Times * 'From start to finish of his long career, privy to the state's topmost secrets, Bell was an exemplary professional. The reader is left feeling that, while there are people like this in public service, people who are guided by the Gospel, there remains hope for the future.' -- Alexander Norman * Catholic Herald * 'Burns gives a remarkable insight into the working of British Intelligence' * The Tablet * 'Jimmy Burns is expertly placed to explore the ambiguities of the shadow world of spying' -- Denis MacShane * The Article *

Author Information

Jimmy Burns OBE is a prize-winning author, with books published in English and multiple translations, and contributes to international media across print, TV & radio. He is a former FT journalist where he worked as a foreign correspondent and a senior reporter covering security and intelligence, and formed part of the newspaper's prize-winning investigative unit which won a national newspaper award for its coverage of Robert Maxwell business dealings and death.

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