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GCHQ

author: Richard Aldrich (2010)
date read: 5 July 2020
rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

A detailed history of British signals intelligence, which eventually leads to GCHQ, although the book starts in the First World War (before even Bletchley Park). It’s drawn from declassified sources, and has lots of stories I hadn’t heard before.

Packed with detail and information; I took lots of notes and enjoyed reading throughout. The stories provide enough context for me to follow – for example, explaining political events that I’d heard of but didn’t know about in detail. Some familiarity with British political history would help, but it’s not required.

Strong recommend for anybody interested in the history of British espionage.

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