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Lead book review

Behind the veil of secrecy: GCHQ emerges from the shadows

The brilliance of GCHQ can now be recognised – and about time too, says Sinclair McKay

17 October 2020

9:00 AM

17 October 2020

9:00 AM

Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain’s Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency John Ferris

Bloomsbury, pp.804, 30

Is it ever possible to truly see inside the heart of another? To divine hidden intentions and the darkest of thoughts? For a long time — before we all became sourly aware of our own computers spying on us like HAL 9000, and flashing ads for haemorrhoid ointments — this godlike omniscience was ascribed to the secret listeners at GCHQ.

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