OPEN SECRET: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE FORMER DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF MI5 PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Stella Rimington | 320 pages | 01 Nov 2002 | Cornerstone | 9780099436720 | English | London, United Kingdom Open Secret: The Autobiography of the Former Director-General of MI5 by Stella Rimington Published by Hutchinson, []. Save for Later. About this Item First edition. Author's first book. Precedes the Liz Carlyle espionage series. Three vertical "rubs" to the front cover, else a fine copy in dust jacket that has three vertical "rubs" to the front cover. A revealing autobiography by the former Director-General of MI5. Bookseller Inventory Ask Seller a Question. Store Description Buckingham Books specializes in new, used and rare books dealing with Mystery and Western Americana, to include Railroading and Ephemeral items. Books in the mystery field include not only Mystery, but also Detective Fiction and Espionage. It was all very exciting. That was nearly 10 years ago. Since then, the relationship between MI5 and the outside world has been transformed. Its work and that of the other intelligence agencies is now subject to parliamentary inspection albeit by a committee appointed by and reporting to the prime minister and there is an annual debate in parliament; we now know far more about its inner workings than ever before. Stella Rimington's memoirs are only the latest step on the long road towards a mature relationship between the security services and the public they exist to serve. Despite the upset she may have caused in certain parts of the establishment, there is nothing here that is likely to cause the least offence to any but the most obtuse of her former colleagues in the secret world. Rimington is no whistleblower and, if you believe her, there are no whistles to blow. She tells us nothing new about the activities of MI5 during the miners' strike beyond assuring us that it was all perfectly above board. Maybe, but one would still like to know the relationship between the general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Roger Windsor, and the security services. She says only that "he was never an agent in any sense of the word that you can possibly imagine". What was he then? Whose idea was it to send him to Libya and then leak news of the trip to the Sunday Times? What part did MI5 play in the attempts to frame Arthur Scargill by pretending that he had used money donated to the strike fund to pay off his mortgage? These are all areas in which Rimington could assist with inquiries, but she does not. Beyond admitting to a little over-enthusiasm when it came to targeting groups on the the left, Rimington concedes nothing. If Rimington were in a mood to be frank, she could tell us what Brigadier Ronnie Stoneham was doing in room at BBC Broadcasting House, stamping upturned Christmas trees on the personnel files of staff thought to be insufficiently patriotic. Alas, however, there is little or no mention of MI5's close relationship with certain sections of the media, which has proved so useful at times of crisis, such as a miners' strike. There are occasions when her memory is at fault. Peter Wright, she says, later withdrew the allegation that there had been a plot involving himself and other MI5 officers to destabilise the government of Harold Wilson. Her book was somewhat informative but not nearly as interesting as I'd hoped and not nearly as interesting as she herself obviously is. I've read good reviews of her fiction, so I might give that a try. Perhaps she'll reveal more in the guise of fiction. Jul 23, Julie Goring rated it it was amazing. A grown up read. A great modern book for girls in particular, outlining the struggle of a woman in a man's world, but culminating in her success at changing male attitudes. Not a feminist book at all, just a straightforward chronicle of the achievement of her goals. Apr 06, dr raman rated it really liked it. Eloquently written in British style masterly intermixing the details of an important organisational work with prose of day to day struggles. Jan 02, Erik Somelar rated it it was amazing. Relaxing read. Best classified as a primary narrative source on women's position in UK civil service 50 years ago, on diplomatic life in India, on many things that are not particularly spying-related. She was the head of counter-intelligence, not a spymaster. Very sympathetic author, a no-nonsense voice. Apr 09, Hannah rated it liked it Shelves: non-fiction , spy. The dull reality of espionage. I know you can't give away state secrets but I'm sure this could have been better. There isn't enough detail or emotion in the anecdotes for them to be absorbing. Perhaps her life of secrets and stiff upper lip childhood have resulted in too much reserve for a memoir. May 25, Sally rated it really liked it. I wanted to read this after hearing an interview with Stella Rimington not long after it was released and have since read all of her Liz Carlysle books, so wanted to read about her as the author of those also. This is a dry read when compared with the fiction series authored by Stella Rimington. However she has lead a very interesting life and it was fascinating to read about. The challenges she faced came from the career she was drafted into, its inherent sexism and discrimination Fascinating. The challenges she faced came from the career she was drafted into, its inherent sexism and discrimination she faced as a result both from within and after being named as head of the service from the press also , the changes that the service underwent whilst she was employed by it and the challenges of being a working mother as well as the difficulties of being publicly named. I learned a few things of interest and am glad to have read it. Apr 23, Rosalie rated it liked it. I had a small personal connection that motivated me to read this autobiography; I went to see a talk at the University of Edinburgh in about espionage and Stella Rimington was one of the guest speakers. I had, being an American, never heard of her before and thought her story was very inspiring which led me to buy her book. I was greatly looking forward to reading the full story, and I think it was definitely a good read. However, I do not feel I necessarily learned all that much about espi I had a small personal connection that motivated me to read this autobiography; I went to see a talk at the University of Edinburgh in about espionage and Stella Rimington was one of the guest speakers. However, I do not feel I necessarily learned all that much about espionage or the workings of MI5, which was probably her intention as she couldn't reveal state secrets. This would not have been such a drawback for me had she discussed more about how she grew in her role and what she personally did to achieve successes; I am not insinuating that she should have detailed her job functions, more like her work ethic or the ways in which she went about impressing her superiors to continue to get promotions. As someone in the field of International Relations, I was looking to this book as a bit of an inspirational view into the life of a woman who succeeded and rose to the top in a similar field. I was definitely disappointed when she wrote about how she ended up in the service to begin with, which you can all read for yourselves : My only other complaint is that she wrote in a way that was entirely too people-pleasing. This bothered me a lot especially when I got to wondering if a man would've felt the need to take that same approach gender norms All in all, an interesting read especially when discussing issues such as Cold War relations, the IRA, and the fascinating period she experienced when the Cold War had ended. Jul 29, Carolyn rated it liked it. When I read the introduction to the first of Stella Rimington's Liz Carlyle fiction series, I decided I also wanted to read her memoir and I did so more or less in parallel. The writing in the memoir is no where near as sharp it made me wonder what different editorial skills were brought to bear on each but the content was so interesting I didn't really notice it. Two things particularly absorbed me. Firstly there was the story of a woman who started working for MI5 almost by accident and foun When I read the introduction to the first of Stella Rimington's Liz Carlyle fiction series, I decided I also wanted to read her memoir and I did so more or less in parallel. Firstly there was the story of a woman who started working for MI5 almost by accident and found it to be the epitome of the English old boy network. Not only did she gradually challenge the status quo but as times changed took every advantage of her opportunities, conscious that she made life difficult for her daughters in many ways, not least because the work she did was secret. She was the first female director of MI5 and her discussion of the way she managed the department and her staff was a great example of how women work differently and build team performance.