Synopses & Reviews
Following on from the success of
Brief Lives, published in 1997, and
Political Lives,
Stage and Screen Lives, and
Literary Lives, published in 2001,
Secret Lives, which will publish alongside three other titles,
Royal Lives,
Military Lives, and
Musical Lives, will be a welcome addition to the series to anyone with an interest in the secret underworld of political and military intrigue. Eminent historian and former wartime intelligence officer, M. R. D. Foot has made a personal selection of around 100 mini-biographies taken from the archives of the
Dictionary of National Biography of some of the men and women who have in their lifetime made themselves famous (or made themselves infamous) working in secret intelligence.
Viewed individually each article in this collection is a permanent historic record of a life in a particular period in time, from the times of Guy Fawkes to the end of the last century. Viewed as a collection the biographies allow for a fascinating tour through the history of secret intelligence.
Entries include:
Benedict Grinsburg on Edith Cavell
Christopher Andrew on Sir M. G. S. Cumming
Sidney Lee on Guy Fawkes
Peter Wilkinson on Sir Colin McVean Gubbins
Nigel Clive on 'Kim' Philby
M. R. D. Foot on Violette Szabo
Sidney Lee on Sir Francis Walsingham
John Hamilton on William Windham
M. R. D. Foot on Greville Maynard Wynne
About the Author
M. R. D. Foot, CBE, is an historian and former wartime intelligence officer. He was Professor of Modern History at Manchester University (1967-73) and has been involved with a number of works, including writing many books on the SOE and editing the first four volumes of the
Gladstone Diaries. He was also Consultant Editor of
The Oxford Companion to World War II (1995, paperback edition 2001).
Table of Contents
Preface by Brian Harrison
Introduction by M. R. D. Foot
Contents
Biographies