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Spying and the Crown: The Secret Relationship Between British Intelligence and the Royals by [Rory Cormac]

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Rory Cormac

Spying and the Crown: The Secret Relationship Between British Intelligence and the Royals Kindle Edition

by Rory Cormac (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 134 ratings

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A Daily Mail Book of the Year and a The Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2021

'Monumental.. Authoritative and highly readable.' Ben Macintyre, The Times
'A fascinating history of royal espionage.' Sunday Times
'Excellent... Compelling' Guardian
For the first time, Spying and the Crown uncovers the remarkable relationship between the Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Princess Diana.
In an enthralling narrative, Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac show how the British secret services grew out of persistent attempts to assassinate Victoria and then operated on a private and informal basis, drawing on close personal relationships between senior spies, the aristocracy, and the monarchy. This reached its zenith after the murder of the Romanovs and the Russian revolution when, fearing a similar revolt in Britain, King George V considered using private networks to provide intelligence on the loyalty of the armed forces - and of the broader population.
In 1936, the dramatic abdication of Edward VIII formed a turning point in this relationship. What originally started as family feuding over a romantic liaison with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, escalated into a national security crisis. Fearing the couple's Nazi sympathies as well as domestic instability, British spies turned their attention to the King. During the Second World War, his successor, King George VI gradually restored trust between the secret world and House of Windsor. Thereafter, Queen Elizabeth II regularly enacted her constitutional right to advise and warn, raising her eyebrow knowingly at prime ministers and spymasters alike.
Based on original research and new evidence, Spying and the Crown presents the British monarchy in an entirely new light and reveals how far their majesties still call the shots in a hidden world.
Previously published as The Secret Royals.

Print length

945 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Atlantic Books
Publication date

7 October 2021
File size

6980 KB
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Product description

Review

This monumental book is really a history of the British secret services, focusing on the fascinating moments when this intersects with royal history... Authoritative and highly readable... As every page of this book attests, the royals have always been involved in secretly directing the affairs not just of this country but of many others. -- Ben Macintyre ― The Times, 'Book of the Week'

Bizarre and disturbing episodes are revealed in this excellent history of the royal family's relationship with espionage... Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac's fascinating history argues that modern intelligence evolved out of efforts to prevent Queen Victoria being assassinated... Through unbelievably thorough research - all of it fully referenced for grateful future scholars - they have compiled something comprehensive and compelling. ― Guardian

A fascinating history of royal espionage... The book, which stretches back to Elizabeth I and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, has something of interest on pretty much every page. -- Rowland White ― Sunday Times

Gripping ― Daily Mail, 'Books of the Year'

Authoritative and gripping. ― Observer

Their mastery of a subject that is extensive both chronologically and in its geographical scope is assured and impressive... An intriguing alternative narrative of British royal history. -- Matthew Dennison ― Sunday Telegraph

Aldrich and Cormac have written an important book. Packed with new material and fresh insights, it offers an original way of looking at royal history. It's also a very good read. -- Jane Ridley ― Literary Review

[A] thorough and informed survey of how matters of high state have really worked - and work. -- Alan Judd ― Spectator

Intricate, ingenious and determined... Intelligent, fair-minded and a pleasure to read. ― Times Literary Supplement

A valuable and unmissable read. -- Alexander Larman ― The Chap

Outstanding research that shines a light into the very darkest corners of the British establishment. Filled with royal revelations - our monarchs are viewed through an entirely new lens - as keepers of the secrets and even as spy chiefs. Were Victoria and Elizabeth II more like 007's mysterious "M"? This is the royals as we have never seen them before and each story is supported with startling new evidence. -- Kate Vigurs, author of Mission France, on The Secret Royals --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Richard J. Aldrich is a Professor of International Security at the University of Warwick. A regular commentator on war and espionage, he has written for The Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph. He is a prize-winning author of several books, including The Hidden Hand and GCHQ.

Rory Cormac is a Professor of International Relations specialising in Secret Intelligence and Covert Action at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of Disrupt and Deny and co-author, with Richard J. Aldrich, of The Black Door. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B092H3R9F8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atlantic Books; Main edition (7 October 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6980 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 945 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 158,503 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 58 in Espionage True Accounts
- 124 in Intelligence & Espionage (Kindle Store)
- 148 in Biographies & Memoirs of Royalty

Customer Reviews:
4.4 134 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

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Vicuña

Fascinating insight into the world of spys

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 December 2022

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I’ve really enjoyed this book which seems thoroughly researched with source material referenced. The early chapters on the Tudor and Elizabethan courts where spies and double agents were keeping the monarch well informed are intriguing.

I really enjoyed the later chapters dealing with more recent times and there’s a new slant on many names that will be familiar; Blunt, Profumo, Burgess, Krushev etc. I had no idea that the late Queen took so much time going through her daily red boxes which included detailed intelligence material. I also founded the concerns about Mountbatten interesting, particularly given his connection to Philip and his influence over the Royal family.

It’s an easy read, packed with trivia and it brought to mind many if the scandals and stories I’ve read about over the last 50 years or so. A cracking slice of modern social history.

2 people found this helpful

john stretch

Good book but I wish I had bought the hardback version

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 February 2023

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First of all, the paperback version suffers from a more and more common shortcoming of small print size. Added to that the binding is excessively tight so you need both hands to hold the book open to read, and a third hand would be useful to hold the book and turn the pages.
I expected coverage of the subject from earlier times, but a short section of the role of espionage in Elizabeth1 v Mary is really all you get until Victorian era, and the main part of the book covers George V1 onwards and so replicates other books covering WW2
Having said that, I did learn a lot about the Crimean War period, and some about earlier times
At present hardback versions are about the same price as paperback, I wish I had noticed that before buying

3 people found this helpful

Katrina

Interesting about the spying, but not so good on Royal History

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 December 2021

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I have recently finished reading this book by Richard Aldrich & Rory Cormac. It is an interesting book, but whilst the authors might know a lot about spying their knowledge of Royal history is clearly not so good. It is a pity that they didn’t find someone to read it through before publication to check those areas of their book where their knowledge is not so good.
These are some of the errors that I noticed.
1) There was more than one King Leopold of the Belgians. Leopold I died in 1865.
After this date they get him muddled up with his son Leopold II.
2) They say that Prince Alexander of Battenberg (& Bulgaria) wanted to marry the Empress Friedrich (Victoria) known as Vicky. It was her daughter Princess Victoria of Prussia known as Moretta that he was interested in marrying.
3) On page 128 the authors say that the future King George V & Queen Mary were in the party of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria when she was assassinated in Geneva. I would love to know where they get this information from. In nearly 50 years of reading about European Royalty I have never read that before.
4) The photograph on the bottom opposite page 438 is of the young Princess Margaret & not of Princess Elizabeth.

I have written to the publishers about these errors in the hope that they might be corrected before a paperback version is published as this is how inaccuracies become facts.

24 people found this helpful

m carter

A real eye opener.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2022

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Very well written. In chronological order and full of revellations, spills the beans on some real traitors.

5 people found this helpful

Ursula Hewson

The title is missing from the book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2021

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The book is a gift for xmas. I cant give it without the title.

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Spying and the Crown: The Secret Relationship Between British Intelligence and the Royals Kindle Edition

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