'Fascinating analysis' Nigel West; 'Grippingly told, authoritative' Mail on Sunday; 'Meticulously researched...a remarkably good read' John Brennan, former CIA Director; 'Excellent...a detailed, highly professional account' Sir John Scarlett, former MI6 Chief
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The Special Relationship between America and Britain is feted by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic when it suits their purpose and just as frequently dismissed as a myth, not least by the media, which announces its supposed death on a regular basis. Yet the simple truth is that the two countries are bound together more closely than either is to any other ally.

In The Real Special Relationship, Michael Smith reveals how it all began, when a top-secret visit by four American codebreakers to Bletchley Park in February 1941 - ten months before the US entered the Second World War - marked the start of a close collaboration between the two nations that endures to this day. Once the war was over, and the Cold War began, both sides recognised that the way they had worked together to decode German and Japanese ciphers could now be used to counter the Soviet threat. Despite occasional political conflict and public disputes between the two nations, such as during the Suez crisis, behind the scenes intelligence sharing continued uninterrupted, right up to the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Smith, the bestselling author of Station X and having himself served in British military intelligence, brings together a fascinating range of characters, from Winston Churchill and Ian Fleming to Kim Philby and Edward Snowden, who have helped shape the security of our two nations. Supported by in-depth interviews and an excellent range of personal contacts, he takes the reader into the mysterious workings of MI6, the CIA and all those who work to keep us safe. 

 

"'Smith compellingly conveys the conflicting currents in [the Special Relationship]. What Michael Smith has ingeniously written is a shadow history of the post-war world. It is a grippingly told, authoritative story roaming across continents and troubled regions, from Malaysia to the Middle East to Russia… This book is also a fascinating analysis of how empires dissolve, and of how new powers fill the vacuum.'" - Mail on Sunday

"'Michael Smith, a respected historian of spookery who himself served in army intelligence before becoming a journalist, here offers an insider’s view of the transatlantic partnership… This is a responsible, unsensational account of the interservice relationship, which eschews harsh judgements about personalities.'" - Sunday Times

"'Michael Smith was an intelligence professional before turning to journalism. There are few as qualified as he to put the whole story together and few who could tell it with such cogency. He relates the 80 years’ cooperation between the intelligence communities (principally the SIS and CIA) in astonishing and revelatory detail, with pace, clarity and authority. It is, quite simply, magnificent.'" - Country Life

"'[The Special Relationship's] history also makes for an engrossing, even thrilling, read. Michael Smith, a former military intelligence officer and author of several books about spying, handles the material judiciously and writes with élan." - Financial Times

"'One of the many strengths of Michael Smith’s account is his charting of its transition from co-operation through wartime expediency to Cold War collaboration. With this thorough and very readable account there’s no excuse for anyone failing to understand the Special Relationship. That’s quite apart from the gems and asides Smith engagingly sprinkles throughout...It all makes for an excellent read.'" - Spectator

"‘'What keeps us on an even keel is the extraordinary connections between the military establishments...above all between the code-breakers and eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency and GCHQ. Smith’s well-researched and topical book (he manages to get in Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine) provides the answer to the perennial White House head-scratching question: do we still need the Brits? Smith’s conclusion: yes, they do.'" - The Times

"'A lucid account, rich in anecdote and detail, of events that defined Britain’s role during the Cold War and its aftermath.'" - Times Literary Supplement

"'[An] excellent overview from the Second World War to the present day. Smith’s account...covers over a broad span of years, all facets of what is not a single strand but a complex web of parallel arrangements between UK and US agencies. The trust and candour that makes the relationship so powerful has at times been undermined by lack of political support, or inter-agency rivalry. It is a challenge to convey all these elements over a period that includes the evolution from hot to cold war, and major turning points such as 9/11, but Smith rises to it in this very readable and well-researched account.'" - Engelsberg Ideas

"Michael Smith’s fascinating new book reminds us that both sides have been the winners in the 'special relationship' while not always following the same set of rules... This book should be read by anyone who wants to understand what this cooperation has done for each country. Smith ... has done us a great service. He is right that the real special relationship should be celebrated: but it must not be mythologised, and never taken for granted.'" - The Cipher Brief

"'The book is a brilliant illustration of the multiple strands of liaison on Sigint, Imint, human intelligence and other forms of sharing. Smith is excellent at documenting the issues from tensions over US activity in China to UK–US competition in the Middle East, yet the relationship remains as strong as ever. This is a meticulous study of the US–UK relationship...backed by intensive research of US and UK sources, and highly recommended reading.'" - RUSI Journal

"‘A significant contribution to the literature of intelligence. It is a masterful, comprehensive exposition of a complex, compelling, often shrouded history’" - International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence

"'Smith approaches his work in the tradition of a seasoned researcher — exploring primary sources in archives, referencing other secondary literature, and conducting interviews — but he writes with the captivating prose of a crime novelist. Despite Smith’s laudable objectivity, his access to interviews with key players is illustrative of the trust that the US and UK intelligence communities place in him'" - Society

"'Excellent … the book makes for an easy, well-organized read. The author’s style is clear and crisp and the substance backed by extensive research, much of it archival as well based on interviews with former intelligence officers' " - Intelligence and National Security

"‘Fascinating … A detailed, richly sourced, analysis of an enduring special relationship … an excellent introduction to the key international events from World War Two to the present day'" - Journal of Intelligence History