Stephen Wade's enthralling book reveals the unsteady foundations of one of the country's most prominent and renowned organizations, tracing the various elements that gradually composed the intelligence and political branches of Britain's Secret Service.

Stephen Wade has written and/or edited thirty books. He specialises in true crime and history of crime but has also written on social and literary history.

Note on Illustrations; Acknowledgement; Preface; Introduction; The Beginnings: Enlightenment Information; Heroes of the Great Game: The Russia/India Axis; The Crimea and the Mutiny; The Intelligence Branch and Professionalism; The Zulu Wars and Egypt; Spies, Informers and the Fenians; Adventurers and Advances; Kitchener and Baden-Powell; The Boer War: Sir John Ardagh and Others; The Foundations of MI5; Spy Mania; Epilogue; Chronology of Main Events; From the Great Game to MI5; Bibliography and Sources; Index