EMPIRE OF SECRETS: British Intelligence, the Cold War and the Twilight of Empire, by Calder Walton. HarperPress, 2013, 411 pp., $35 (hardcover)
¡°Empire of Secrets¡± is, as Calder Walton himself writes, ¡°the first book devoted to British intelligence during the twilight of empire that has been based on declassified intelligence reports.¡± ¡°The full story can never perhaps be known,¡± he quotes Sir David Petrie, head of MI5 during the Second World War, ¡°but if it could be, it could perhaps claim acceptance as truth mainly on the grounds that it seems stranger than fiction.¡± The book bears Sir David out, but only in the context of others.
A decade ago, two books appeared at opposite poles of the discourse over Britain¡¯s empire, its demise and legacy. One, by historian Niall Ferguson, was cheerleader for the imperial enterprise, subtitled ¡°How Britain Made the Modern World.¡± As well as chronicling what he saw as its achievements Ferguson posited that with empire, Britain founded global ¡°liberal¡± capitalism, withdrawing altruistically from its territories when the fruit was ripe.
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