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The Secret State: British Internal Security in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)
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The Secret State: British Internal Security in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)
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This is a history of the secret activities of the British
government in response to threats to the nation's well-being and
stability during the twentieth century. It is based on intensive
and widespread research in private and public archives and on
documents many of which have only recently come to light or been
made available.
The dangers perceived by the state have been manifold and various,
coming from within and from abroad. Anarchists, fascists,
socialists, communists, the IRA, trades-unionists and animal
activists as well as spies, terrorists and saboteurs have been the
subject of undercover investigation, along with almost every
large-scale movement from suffragettes to campaigners for peace and
nuclear disarmament. The author describes the methods and people
employed, and the mixed nature of their results.
The British state has always seen itself as civil and liberal, but
as Dr Thurlow shows it has sometimes been far from open. The
government has had many weapons at its disposal, from public order
acts, censorship, internment and proscription on the one hand, to
covert operations, infiltration and manipulation on the other. Yet
when examined in the light of new evidence, the activities of the
state are fully comprehensible only in terms of those who comprised
it. The author shows the tensions among the departments (between
MI5, MI6, SIS and the Special Branch, for example), and the crucial
part played by individuals whose motives were often far from what
the government supposed them to be.
This is an at times disturbing, at others almost comical, but
always fascinating account. It throws light on the inmost workings
of the state, as well as on the movements and people subject to
investigation and action.
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