GCHQ

GCHQ
Richard Aldrich

As we become ever-more aware of how our governments “eavesdrop” on our conversations, here is a gripping exploration of this unknown realm of the British secret service: Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ).GCHQ is the successor to the famous Bletchley Park wartime code-breaking organisation and is the largest and most secretive intelligence organisation in the country. During the war, it commanded more staff than MI5 and MI6 combined and has produced a number of intelligence triumphs as well as some notable failures. Since the end of the Cold War, it has played a pivotal role in shaping Britain's secret state. Still, we know almost nothing about it.In this ground-breaking book, Richard J. Aldrich traces GCHQ's evolvement from a wartime code breaking operation based in the Bedfordshire countryside to one of the world's leading espionage organisations. Focusing in part on GCHQ's remarkably intimate relationship with its American partner, the National Security Agency (NSA), Aldrich also examines both the impact of the Second World War on GCHQ and the breakthroughs made after the war was over.Today's GCHQ struggles with some of the most difficult issues of our time. A leading force of the state's security efforts against militant terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda, they are also involved in fundamental issues that will mould the future of British society. Compelling and revelatory, Aldrich’s book is espionage writing of the utmost importance.

GCHQ

Richard J. Aldrich

The Uncensored Story of Britain’s Most Secret Intelligence Agency

Copyright (#ulink_62dd9e10-324e-5787-8bd6-33e271c0581c)

HarperPress

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London SE1 9GF

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Published by HarperPress in 2010

Copyright © Richard J. Aldrich 2010

Richard J. Aldrich asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007312665

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 9780007357123

Version: 2016-08-23

For Libby (for the dark night-time)

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#udece254e-7dc3-5a17-8076-6f5eef2e23d0)

Title Page (#u07e506f6-56d5-5f67-b045-eab35d22ab0c)

Copyright (#uf9033a0b-22b1-5ce5-ab2e-7f09fe72c3f8)

Sigint and Comsec Locations in the UK (#u8276d97f-8312-54f4-a9d0-516fe860109e)

Note on Terminology (#ub3cad874-9850-5068-8e83-41955cbcc9b8)

Abbreviations (#u983088b9-77c7-5570-b169-d50093ecf287)

Introduction (#u53e7d68f-8aa2-5fa7-b5a3-fae69c608c18)

THE 1940s BLETCHLEY PARK AND BEYOND (#u9bbb4786-6830-5b23-bb6e-721960cd1119)

1 Schooldays (#u472d8be6-6fad-5cb7-9662-4ddd51ed99c4)

2 Friends and Allies (#ua7821127-f033-5e2a-888b-c47c4da15a9b)

3 Every War Must Have an End (#u11007516-1f07-5bfe-828e-f16ffd327efe)

4 The KGB and the Venona Project (#udebca288-4839-56d3-852c-a0eba9d63145)

5 UKUSA – Creating the Global Sigint Alliance (#uda438f41-337e-5eca-a961-0856fbe19a8f)

THE 1950s FIGHTING THE ELECTRONIC WAR (#ud2462502-ffc1-57ad-a6de-f8ae5ab06db3)

6 ‘Elint’ and the Soviet Nuclear Target (#u3dc80380-d041-5232-ae77-9d5728bcd855)

7 The Voyages of HMS Turpin (#u84609469-8979-5c74-9aff-5fd8b9fb287a)

8 Sigint in the Sun – GCHQ’s Overseas Empire (#u7986020c-fb95-537d-9e39-071a94276f06)

9 Blake, Bugs and the Berlin Tunnel (#litres_trial_promo)

10 Embassy Wars (#litres_trial_promo)

THE 1960s SPACE, SPY SHIPS AND SCANDALS (#litres_trial_promo)

11 Harold Macmillan – Shootdowns, Cyphers and Spending (#litres_trial_promo)

12 Harold Wilson – Security Scandals and Spy Revelations (#litres_trial_promo)

13 Intelligence for Doomsday (#litres_trial_promo)

14 Staying Ahead – Sigint Ships and Spy Planes (#litres_trial_promo)

THE 1970s TURBULENCE AND TERROR (#litres_trial_promo)

15 Trouble with Henry (#litres_trial_promo)

16 Disaster at Kizildere (#litres_trial_promo)

17 Turmoil on Cyprus (#litres_trial_promo)