The Hidden History of Britain's Spies

Unveil the Veil: Inside MI6's Covert World. Delve into the shadowy history of Britain's elite intelligence agency, from espionage feats in World Wars to modern global influence. Intrigue awaits!

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[black_wolf]

Sir Francis Walsingham deserves his own video! 🍻

[IpoteticAMVsChannel]

YES! We want the Elisabeth's spy episode! I loved the way Ken Follet tackled this stories in his Coloumn of Fire!

[nbarnes]

Heck yes I want to know about QEI's spymaster!!!

[benrogan]

Would love to see the history of spycraft

[the-chillian]

A look at Walsingham's work would be very interesting.

Coincidentally, a video on a naval history channel I follow highlighted one of his few failures, which was the exact disposition and timing of the Spanish Armada. It wasn't the fault of his organization though. There were so many conflicting orders coming out of Madrid so quickly that not even the Armada commanders themselves always knew what they were supposed to be doing. And if they didn't know, an intelligence service wasn't going to either.

[Berengier]

Christopher Lee best role. Killing Nazis as a spy.

Best role because he made the world better. Not his best on screen role of course

[ElladanKenet]

"There is no spy agency." -Spy agency spokesperson

[davidbennettracing]

I think The West Wing said it best; “our failures are public and our successes are private.”

[andrewmathewson]

My patriarchal great-grandfather was a military spy during WW2 and evacuated himself and his family from their home in Singapore before the Japanese invaded, moving to Perth, Western Australia. He then left to England to join the SOE and work in occupied France until the war ended. Then, as the Cold War begun, he was appointed the first head of Allied security in West Berlin. Part of the reason that he didn't return home is that his wife divorced him basically as soon as she could and forbade his son (my grandfather) from ever trying to contact him. By the time he and my father decided to try and find him in the 80's, he was dying in an aged care facility from Alzheimer's.

I'm not exactly clear on how the knowledge of what he actually did during and after the war came to our family, but I hope to one day learn more information about what he did, because that is a story that should be told and remembered.

[Hedron-Design]

As much as many of my fellow Americans like to take pride in our involvement in WW2 etc, it is a fact that our country learned a LOT from British intelligence. We even adopted many practices and followed training and instruction from British intelligence in a big way. The history (what we are allowed to know) is fascinating and makes me so glad for our friends over the pond. Much respect.

[terryenby]

This was really interesting! Would love to see a whole series on spying! Especially the older stuff that has become de-classified!

[BenjaminAkers]

Love your work Simon! Thank you and your team for the ever-engaging presentations on so many different topics!

[femain]

Love these longer into the shadows videos. Hope we get more in the 20 minute range… as long as it won’t cause you to burn out

[johnmassey]

A video about the legendary SAS would be very interesting indeed.

[jonathanhill]

Yes, Sir Francis Walsingham please!
Also a more in depth look into WW1 espionage. We always hear about the trenches but rarely about the spying.

[ceresbane]

I'm reminded of a news story a few years back where a person that was to become the new chief of MI6 was immediately forced to resign because his dumbass wife announced it on facebook, resulting friends and family congratulating him and the news (obviously) going viral.

I imagine those two aren't married anymore.

[BAAWAKnight]

At the renaissance faire near me, there's a guy who portrays Sir Francis to the point where, having read about him, he pretty much *is* Sir Francis.

[theresalaux]

Yes Francis Walsingham deserved a video of his own.! 😊

[Domitianvs]

You've got to love Simon speaking french like Brad Pitt speaking italian in Inglorious Basterds!

[sybentley]

Sir John Dee used to sign his name as 007. He taught Walsingham.