Mi6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service

Despite the efforts of an outraged British government determined to suppress its publication, this exhaustive study of Her Majesty's secret service appeared in print in the U.K. in March, and was serialized amid great controversy in London's Sunday Times. The fruits of Dorril's 15 years' research into the shadowy MI6 are now presented for the edification of U.S. readers. Dorril (Smear, etc.) goes heavy on revelations and myth busting. In his hands, MI6 is no longer the precision-tuned organization of legend, but appears far more American in its tendency to blunder its way through important missions. In an echo of the CIA's failed efforts in Cuba and elsewhere, MI6 is shown fumbling plans to assassinate troublesome heads of state, including Muammar Khadafy and Slobodan Milosevic. Ever shrewd, however, the British spy agency manages to fund some of its operations with CIA money. Also, Dorril claims, MI6 conducted spy operations for the U.S. in Vietnam as part of a complex, covert deal with Washington to keep British troops out of Southeast Asia. Other assertions are indeed delicious if not entirely persuasive: Nelson Mandela (who denies the charge) is portrayed as a British agent who provided key information on Libyan financing of the IRA. Dense even for an intelligence history, the work is carefully organized to avoid overwhelming the more casual reader, while providing both in-depth research for the serious student and entertainment for the well-informed spy buff. American journalists and readers accustomed to seeing our own country's secrets unmasked via the Freedom of Information Act may wonder what all the fuss is about on the other side of the Atlantic, but will certainly find much to marvel at. (June)