Overview

From memoirs and academic texts to conspiracy-laden exposes and spy novels, the intelligence services' secrecy has never stopped people from writing about espionage. Now, this is the first introduction to these official and unofficial histories. Each chapter showcases new archival material, looking at a particular book or series of books and considering issues of production, censorship, representation and reception. Contributors include: Richard Aldrich, intelligence historian; Nicholas Dujmovic, CIA Staff Historian; Matthew Jones, novelist; Jo Wippl, Former CIA operations officer; Keith Jeffery, author of the first official history of MI6 and Chapman Pincher, journalist.

Full Product Details

Author:   Christopher R. Moran (Assistant Professor in US National Security/Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick) ,  Christopher J. Murphy (Lecturer in Intelligence Studies/School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences, University of Salford)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
Edition:   New in Paperback
ISBN:  

9781399570732

ISBN 10:   1399570730
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   30 June 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones Introduction: Intelligence Studies Now and Then Christopher R. Moran and Christopher J. Murphy Part I. American Intelligence Historiography 1. CIA History as a Cold War Battleground: The Forgotten First Wave of Agency Narratives Richard J. Aldrich 2. The Culture of Funding Culture: The CIA and the Congress for Cultural Freedom Eric Pullin 3. ‘Real Substance, Not Just Symbolism’? The CIA and the Representation of Covert Operations in the Foreign Relations of the United States Series Matthew Jones and Paul McGarr 4. Bonum Ex Malo: The Value of Legacy of Ashes in Teaching CIA History Nicholas Dujmovic 5. Narrating Covert Action: The CIA, Historiography and the Cold War Kaeten Mistry 6. FBI Historiography: From Leader to Organisation Melissa Graves 7. Reconceiving Realism: Intelligence Historians and the Fact/Fiction Dichotomy Simon Willmetts 8. The Reality is Stranger than Fiction: Anglo-American Intelligence Cooperation from World War Two through the Cold War Frederick P. Hitz Part II. British Intelligence Historiography 9. A Plain Tale of Pundits, Players and Professionals: The Historiography of the Great Game Robert Johnson 10. No Cloaks, No Daggers: The Historiography of British Military Intelligence Jim Beach 11. The Study of Interrogation: A Focus on Torture, But What About the Intelligence? Samantha Newbery 12. Whitehall, Intelligence and Official History: Editing SOE in France Christopher J. Murphy 13. A Tale of Torture? Alexander Scotland, The London Cage and Post-War British Secrecy Daniel Lomas 14. 1968 – ‘A Year to Remember’ for the Study of British Intelligence? Adam D. M. Svendsen 15. Their Trade is Treachery: A Retrospective Chapman Pincher 16. Intelligence and ‘Official History’ Christopher Baxter and Keith Jeffery Index

Reviews

A much-needed examination of the extensive and rapidly growing historiography of intelligence studies. It addresses the difficulties posed by official secrecy, how real world developments influenced historiography, and the recent trend toward state-sanctioned histories. Given the diversity of the literature examined, it is fitting that the contributors range from scholars to journalists and intelligence professionals … Summing Up: Recommended. -- P. C. Kennedy, York College of Pennsylvania * Choice * A fascinating collection of perspectives that chronicles the development of intelligence studies during the past 30 years from a 'missing dimension' of modern history to a mature discipline fully able to hold its own with its scholarly forbears. -- David Robarge, CIA Chief Historian

Author Information

Dr. Christopher R. Moran is an Assistant Professor of US National Security in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. He is also a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow. Previously, he was a research assistant on the AHRC-funded project, ‘Landscapes of Secrecy: The CIA and the Contested Record of US Foreign Policy’. He is the author of Classified: Secrecy and the State in Modern Britain (2012). Christopher J. Murphy is Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at the University of Salford.

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