Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the topic of terrorism has been almost continually front-page news in the United Kingdom. The subsequent 'war on terror', including the invasion of Iraq, has only heightened interest in the matter. With the London bombings of 7 July 2005, Britain became a frontline in international terrorism and counter-terrorism. This reality has only been heightened by failed attacks in London on 21 July 2005, and through a series of high profile arrests in Forest Hill, in Birmingham in connection to a beheading plot, the arrests of NHS staff in connection to failed attacks in London and Glasgow, and the attempted arrest of Jean Charles de Menezes, which had tragic consequences. In this illuminating and fascinating look at an often misunderstood world Steve Hewitt offers a balanced, measured, and informed examination of recent events and offers a historical and contemporary context to this new threat, and how we are dealing with it.

This title presents a vivid account of how some citizens actively assist state surveillance by 'informing' on others, such as during the Cold War and the current campaign against terrorism. With "Snitch!", Steve Hewitt provides a thorough study of human informers, i.e., people who secretly supply information to a domestic security agency (a spy provides information to a foreign intelligence service). The work begins with an examination of the rise of the modern security state through the Cold War to today's ongoing 'long war' on terror. Using a unique comparative approach, Hewitt analyzes the practical and political aspects of informing, drawing on past and present examples from the United States, United Kingdom, former Soviet Union, and other countries. He argues that although the scale of the use of informers by domestic security agencies differs from nation to nation, the nature of their use and the impact on those targeted by this form of surveillance do not. An engaging read that combines scholarly research and specific case studies, "Snitch!" will appeal to anyone interested in security and intelligence as well as in issues surrounding the use of informers, especially in democratic societies.

This is a vivid account of how some citizens actively assist state surveillance by 'informing' on others, such as during the Cold War and the current campaign against terrorism. With "Snitch!", Steve Hewitt provides a thorough study of human informers, i.e., people who secretly supply information to a domestic security agency (a spy provides information to a foreign intelligence service.) The work begins with an examination of the rise of the modern security state through the Cold War to today's ongoing 'long war' on terror. Using a unique comparative approach, Hewitt analyzes the practical and political aspects of informing, drawing on past and present examples from the United States, United Kingdom, former Soviet Union, and other countries. He argues that although the scale of the use of informers by domestic security agencies differs from nation to nation, the nature of their use and the impact on those targeted by this form of surveillance do not. An engaging read that combines scholarly research and specific case studies, "Snitch!" will appeal to anyone interested in security and intelligence as well as in issues surrounding the use of informers, especially in democratic societies.

Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the topic of terrorism has been almost continually front-page news in the United Kingdom. The subsequent 'war on terror', including the invasion of Iraq, has only heightened interest in the matter. With the London bombings of 7 July 2005, Britain became a frontline in international terrorism and counter-terrorism. This reality has only been heightened by failed attacks in London on 21 July 2005, and through a series of high profile arrests in Forest Hill, in Birmingham in connection to a beheading plot, the arrests of NHS staff in connection to failed attacks in London and Glasgow, and the attempted arrest of Jean Charles de Menezes, which had tragic consequences. In this illuminating and fascinating look at an often misunderstood world Steve Hewitt offers a balanced, measured, and informed examination of recent events and offers a historical and contemporary context to this new threat, and how we are dealing with it.

So the emblem of the West Our bright Maple Leaf is bless'd To its children of the goodly open hand; All the nations of the earth Are now learning of its worth And are flocking to this wealthy, promised land. - The Sugar Maple Tree Song, 1906 In 1906, the Sugar Maple Tree Song was just one example of the rhapsodic pieces that touted the Prairie West as the "promised land." In the formative years of agricultural settlement from the late nineteenth century to the First World War, the Canadian government, along with the railways and other Prairie boosters, further developed and propagated this image within the widely distributed promotional literature that was used to attract millions of immigrants to the Canadian West from all corners of the world. Some saw the Prairies as an ideal place to create a Utopian society; others seized the chance to take control of their own destinies in a new and exciting place. The image of the West as a place of unbridled prosperity and opportunity became the dominant perception of the region at that time. During the interwar and post-World War II eras, this image was questioned and challenged, although not entirely replaced, thus showing its pervasive influence.The Prairie West as Promised Land is group of essays, which includes contributions from some of the best-known Prairie historians as well as some of the most promising new scholars in the field, explores this persistent theme in Prairie history and makes an important contribution to the historiography of the Canadian West. With Contributions By: Sarah Carter Catherine A. Cavanaugh Brett Fairbairn Michael Fedyk R. Douglas Francis David Hall SteveHewitt Laurence Kitzan Chris Kitzan George Melnyk Doug Owram Anthony W. Rasporich Bradford J. Rennie Bill Waiser Matthew Wangler Randi Warne

If you attended a Canadian university in the past eighty years, it's possible that, unbeknownst to you, Canadian security agents were surveying you, your fellow students, and your professors for 'subversive' tendencies and behaviour. Since the end of the First World War, members of the RCMP have infiltrated the campuses of Canada's universities and colleges to spy, meet informants, gather information, and on occasion, to attend classes. Why they were there is the subject of a new book by Steve Hewitt. Spying 101 provides new insight on the previously secret operations of one of Canada's most powerful institutions and best-known national symbols, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. For more than eighty years, the RCMP and its younger counterpart, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), have been conducting covert investigations within the hallowed halls of Canadian universities in an attempt to discover 'subversive' activity among faculty, employees, and students, and, periodically, to hunt for spies and terrorists. Information has been collected on thousands of Canadians, including prominent individuals such as Pierre Berton, Peter Gzowski, Lotta Hitschmanova, and RenT LTvesque. Spying 101 offers a fresh examination of the relationship in the intelligence field between the RCMP and federal departments, such as National Defence and External Affairs, and its political masters, including Pierre Trudeau. Hewitt also explores the complicity of the RCMP in the handling of the anti-APEC protests at the University of British Columbia in 1997 and offers an overview of the current work by Canada's intelligence services at the nation's universities. Relying on thousands of pages of previously secret RCMP and government documents, and on recollections of participants including former members of the RCMP Security Service, Spying 101 offers a vivid portrait of a crucial, yet unstudied, chapter in the history of the world's most famous police force.