'M' MI5's first spymaster' by Andrew Cook

[yperman]

Andrew Cook gives an overview of the creation and development of MI5 and MI6 and in particular the career  of William Melville the first "M". The first two thirds of the book are pre GW and detail his career in the police and Special Branch ( mostly dealing with the threat from Fenians and anarchists). The last third gives an account of the development of British intelligence and counter-intelligence targeting German spies in the run up to and during the GW. 

The author was given access to "closed" sources and from them gives an impressive amount of detail such as names, places, character sketches, methods and operations at home and in Germany (for example the list of known German spies in England in 1914). And of course the political manouvrerings  within government and how they helped (and hindered) Melville's work. My favourite move was an amendment to the "old" Espionage act so that any Magistrate (and not exclusively the Attorney General) could authorise communications interception. (Melville was then quietly sworn in as a Magistrate).

Some of it reads like a draft of a "Flashman" novel such as Steinhauer (the head of the German secret service) and Melville -  (after a good meal and wine) - armed with revolvers carrying out on their own  a late night raid in pre GW London to arrest three Russian Nihilists. (It ended in a shoot out). It even -too briefly- mentions the bars in Shanghai where the wine was ankle deep on the floor and accompanied by "slappers from four continents".

Reading between the lines a lot is not included such as how a tiny organisation in a pre internet, phone  and even passport age could be so easily and quickly locate foreigners using false names when they hastily decamped out of London to various towns all over Great Britain. This is particularly impressive given the fragmented system of policing in England.

I found this a really interesting  read with fascinating illustrations of the main characters and the original offices of British intelligence. Recommended.