ABSTRACT
Study of intelligence, surveillance and espionage has flourished since the subject emerged into the academic mainstream. Once famously described by Sir Alexander Cadogan, permanent secretary at the British Foreign Office from 1938 to 1945, as the 'missing dimension' to most studies of international relations and diplomacy, much the same was true for many decades of military and strategic history-writing. A great deal changed from about 1974 onwards, with the revelation of the 'Ultra Secret', a key breakthrough to the understanding of decision-making in diplomacy and military affairs long denied all but the well-placed officials and former codebreaking analysts who had been personally 'in the know'.1
