I love the occasional doorstop, but they are time consuming. This month's doorstop (and, in fact, the doorstop du jour) is Defend The Realm: The Authorized History of MI-5 by Christopher Andrew.* My second confession of this post: I'm a sucker for a good book about an intelligence agency. James Bamford has done two excellent books about the National Security Agency. I've got a book about MI-6 and another about Mossad lurking somewhere on my shelves and they're all fascinating, but I always, always, always take them with a grain of salt.
And why wouldn't you? When it comes to opening a veil that most, if not all governments would prefer remain closed, you can't put too much faith in just one source. I like reading about these agencies. I like finding out about the reality of intelligence work- or at least as close to reality as these books will allow, but this one is a little different. First of all, MI-5 approached Mr. Andrew to write this book and second of all, it's probably the only (but maybe not) officially approved and sanctioned history of an intelligence agency of it's kind.
This one is slow going- I mean, look at the size of the thing, but it's fascinating, detailed and I would imagine that such a massive undertaking- given the level of access given to Mr. Andrew for his research- would have been a lot of fun as well as a titanic pain in the ass, I'd imagine.
But at the end of the day, I'm a still a sucker for a good doorstop. There's a sense of accomplishment once you actually finish one of these things- you get your knowledge on and you've found your way through a ginormous book and it's a relief to be finished- but your proud of yourself too. Sort of like walking the stairstepper on high for the very first time and surviving.
*Yes, I read a rotation of about four books at once these days. I like to spread things out as much as possible so I don't get too bored with one book- it probably seems a little weird to a lot of people, but weirdly enough, it works for me.
And why wouldn't you? When it comes to opening a veil that most, if not all governments would prefer remain closed, you can't put too much faith in just one source. I like reading about these agencies. I like finding out about the reality of intelligence work- or at least as close to reality as these books will allow, but this one is a little different. First of all, MI-5 approached Mr. Andrew to write this book and second of all, it's probably the only (but maybe not) officially approved and sanctioned history of an intelligence agency of it's kind.
This one is slow going- I mean, look at the size of the thing, but it's fascinating, detailed and I would imagine that such a massive undertaking- given the level of access given to Mr. Andrew for his research- would have been a lot of fun as well as a titanic pain in the ass, I'd imagine.
But at the end of the day, I'm a still a sucker for a good doorstop. There's a sense of accomplishment once you actually finish one of these things- you get your knowledge on and you've found your way through a ginormous book and it's a relief to be finished- but your proud of yourself too. Sort of like walking the stairstepper on high for the very first time and surviving.
*Yes, I read a rotation of about four books at once these days. I like to spread things out as much as possible so I don't get too bored with one book- it probably seems a little weird to a lot of people, but weirdly enough, it works for me.
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