Opening the Security Archives

摘要

Billed as "the most comprehensive history of intelligence and security operations yet written," Christopher Andrew's The Secret World sets out to show that espionage has always been with us and, perhaps more controversially, that the more modern practitioners of the arcane arts were ignorant of what, for example, their Elizabethan forebears had engaged in. But does any of that matter? While it is almost certainly true that over the ages many politicians and spymasters have been unaware of their opponents' nefarious activities, it is undoubtedly rather obvious that clandestine operations are generally intended to remain secret. Doubtless, it will always be the case that, however well informed, there are bound to be some senior personnel who have omitted reading the literature and learning from the mistakes of others. But why should it matter that, for example, World War II cryptographers at Bletchley Park knew nothing about Sir Francis Walsingham?