Disrupt and Deny

Reviews / Votes

Revelatory and meticulously researched. Rory Cormac moves in the forensic footsteps of Peter Hennessy, patiently sleuthing his way through forgotten archives and private papers, finding disturbing documents that Whitehall civil servants hoped had long been buried. Half a century after we began to learn about SOE and Bletchley Park, there are still surprises. * Richard Aldrich, The Times Literary Supplement * A welcome and most timely book [which] provides plenty of evidence to show why it is time [that policy makers and spy chiefs] absence of accountability and freedom to break the law with impunity must end. * Richard Norton-Taylor, Literary Review * A work of outstanding scholarly originality. * Richard Davenport-Hines, Times Literary Supplement * In 'Disrupt and Deny', Rory Cormac takes readers into the hidden world of British foreign intelligence activity. With extraordinary detail and easily accessible prose, Cormac's work sets a standard for espionage history ... To be sure, this is a very serious book worthy of serious readers. But offering various anecdotes amid the history, the book sometimes reads as much as a spy thriller. It will have broad appeal. * Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner * Disrupt and Deny is a bold study of the postwar history of British covert action [and] Cormac attacks the subject with impressive energy and industry. The result is an engrossing journey through the history of a stubbornly opaque area of the secret world. * Huw Dylan, BBC History Magazine * A ground-breaking book ... It reads like a thriller and shines valuable light on how Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, M16, has spread misinformation designed to divide and discredit targets from the Middle East to Eastern Europe. * Francis Ghiles, ES Global * This excellent book relies on a high amount of archival material and represents the first detailed history of British covert action. * Lucy Trenta, Intelligence and National Security * An enthralling, well-written and authoritative history of Britain's role in covert operations from the Second World War to the present day. * Geraint Hughes, International Affairs * An important book about an important subject Disrupt and Deny should be read by anyone, citizens, scholars or those in government interested in Britain's place in the world, past and present. * Calder Walton, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University * A pioneering and highly readable book uncovering how Britain secretly used spies and special forces to stem national decline. * Professor Michael Goodman, King's College, London * Rory Cormac is one of the brightest rising stars in the expanding firmament of Intelligence Studies. Here he takes on one of the most difficult of research endeavors: probing the ins-and-outs of covert action as practiced by the British. He comes up with a balanced assessment written in lovely prose that is a pleasure to read. This book is a valuable dissection of an important topic that few have had the audacity to address. * Loch K. Johnson, Regents Professor of International Affairs, University of Georgia * This is a ground-breaking book--the first history of British covert action ever published, from wartime SOE to new and unacknowledged adventures in Syria." * Richard J. Aldrich, University of Warwick and author of GCHQ:The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency *