Red List

MI5 and British Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century

David Caute

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Hardback

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English

Verso
02 August 2022

Literary studies: from c 1900 -; History; Social & cultural history; Espionage & secret services

In the popular imagination MI5, or the Security Service, is known chiefly as the branch of the British state responsible for chasing down those who endanger national security—from Nazi fifth columnists to Soviet spies and today's domestic extremists. Yet, working from official documents released to the National Archives,distinguished historian Caute discovers that suspicion also fell on those who merely exercised their civil liberties, posing no threat to national security. In reality, this 'other history' of the Security Service, was dictated not only by the consistent anti-Communist and Imperial aims of the British state but also by the political prejudices of MI5's personnel. The guiding notions were ‘Defence of the Realm’

and ‘subversion.’

Caute here exposes the massive state operation to track the activities and affiliations of a range of journalists, academics, scientists, filmmakers, writers actors and musicians, who the Security Service classified

as a threat to national security. Guilt by association was paramount. Letters were opened, phones were intercepted, private homes were bugged and citizens were placed under physical surveillance by Special Branch agents.

Among the targets of surveillance are found such prominent figures as Arthur Ransome, Paul Robeson, J.B. Priestley, Kingsley Amis, George Orwell, Doris Lessing, Christopher Isherwood, Stephen Spender, Dorothy Hodgkin, Jacob Bronowski, John Berger, Benjamin Britten, Christopher Hill, Eric Hobsbawm, Kingsley Martin, Michael Redgrave, Joan Littlewood, Joseph Losey, Michael Foot and

Harriet Harman. More than 200 victims are listed here but further MI5 files will be released to the National Archives.

By: David Caute
Imprint: Verso
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 31mm
Weight: 578g
ISBN: 9781839762451
ISBN 10: 1839762454
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 02 August 2022
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

David Caute is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society. His recent books include Isaac and Isaiah, Politics and the Novel During the Cold War, and The Dancer Defects.

Reviews for Red List: MI5 and British Intellectuals in the Twentieth Century

What could have been a minor academic squabble is transformed here into a wide-ranging discussion of some of the major ideological disputes of the 20th century - Marxism, Zionism, liberalism and the significance of the Russian revolution. * The Economist (praise for Isaac and Isaiah) * Readers . . . will find themselves informed and absorbed by Mr. Caute's portrait of the intellectual battles of the Cold War. -- Adam Kirsch * Wall Street Journal (praise for Isaac and Isaiah) * Caute's new book is the most authoritative study to date of politics and literature during the Cold War and one of the wisest and witties books of cultural criticism to appear for many years. -- John Gray * Literary Review (praise for Politics and the Novel During the Cold War) *