Going undercover
HUW DYLAN enjoys a lucid account that reveals how intelligence gathering is neglected at times of low threat
Few historians have done more to chronicle the history of espionage than Professor Christopher Andrew. Over a career spanning more than five decades he has offeredffd some off the most authoritative accounts of British, American and Soviet intelligence agencies. All of his work underlines the importance of intelligence in international relations and domestic security, and aims to correct the general exclusion of these matters from historical analyses of the 20th century. In The Secret World Andrew takes this a stage further, aiming to illuminate intelligence’s global history. Few people could be better placed to take on such a task.
The core message of the book is that intelligence historians, officers and policymakers have failed to adopt a long-term, global perspective on the subject. This neglect carries risk. Time and again we observe vital intelligence capabilities being built up at times of heightened threat, only to be neglected as soon as the threat dissipates, wasting invaluable experience and sowing the seeds of future surprises.
Andrew underlines this point with examples ranging from neglect of Queen Elizabeth I’s codebreakers following the defeat of the Spanish Armada – where her prized cryptanalyst found himself in debtor’s prison owing to the pressure of having to finance his own operations – to the US’s failure to assess the rising appeal and power of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran. This latter failing was partly because those in power had forgotten the lessons their predecessors had learned about the importance of ideology while battling Nazism and communism. If we are to adequately understand and manage some of the most significant challenges we face today, particularly concerning the development of disruptive digital technologies and the potential proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups, Andrew argues that we must take the long view and heed Churchill’s advice: “The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.”
The Secret World looks back a long way. Its 30 chapters range from antiquity to the modern world, taking in China, India, Greece and Rome, the rise of Islamic intelligence and the origins of Russian state security, as well as Britain, France, Germany and the US. Throughout, readers will find a lucid, entertaining and informed narrative of the developments and lessons of the period in question. Not to mention an introduction to many fabulous characters: intelligence has always attracted the brilliant and eccentric, as well as the outright villainous.
Andrew has an impressive ability to weave together the various geographic and temporal threads to demonstrate continuity and discontinuity, parallels,
and lessons learned and forgotten. This is done with great effect when documenting the rise and fall of various intelligence systems, but perhaps most interestingly when Andrew describes the development of cryptography, cryptanalysis, and what is known today as SIGINT, or Signals Intelligence.
From the ancient world to the 21st century, Andrew traces how SIGINT provided kings, queens and emperors with the insight they needed to maintain security and wage more effective warfare. Thus, we are introduced to a diverse cast of characters. These include Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, the prolific polymath from the House of Wisdom in ninth-century Baghdad, who wrote
His message is clear: that we neglect this body of knowledge at the risk of our security
a manuscript on deciphering cryptographic messages. Then there was Giovanni Soro, who headed a codebreaking agency in Renaissance Venice, deciphering in cramped chambers at the Doge’s palace for close to 40 years. (Incidentally, Soro also wrote a book on cryptography, sadly now lost to history.) Another fascinating figure was Thomas Phelippes, Sir Francis Walsingham’s cryptanalyst, whose work led to the unravelling of the Babington Plot against Queen Elizabeth I and the subsequent execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
The signal achievement of The Secret World is to illuminate how understanding the work of the cryptanalysts and intelligence officers – both past and present – is key to developing a granular understanding of historical events. It offers us vital perspective. Andrew’s message is clear: that we neglect this body of knowledge at the risk of imperilling not only our intellectual development but also our security.