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  • The Secret History of the Five Eyes

  • The Untold Story of the Shadowy International Spy Network, Through Its Targets, Traitors and Spies
  • By: Richard Kerbaj
  • Narrated by: Richard Kerbaj
  • Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)

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The Secret History of the Five Eyes cover art

The Secret History of the Five Eyes

By: Richard Kerbaj
Narrated by: Richard Kerbaj
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Publisher's Summary

The Secret History of the Five Eyes: The untold story of the international spy network, is a riveting and exclusive narrative of the most powerful and least understood intelligence alliance, which has been steeped in secrecy since its formation in 1956.

Richard Kerbaj, an award-winning investigative journalist and filmmaker, bypasses the usual censorship channels to tell the definitive account of authoritative but unauthorised stories of the Western world's most powerful but least known intelligence alliance made up of the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. As Kerbaj shows, spy stories are never better than when they are true—and these span from 1930s Nazi spy rings to the most recent developments in Ukraine and China.

Through personal interviews with world leaders—including British Prime Ministers Theresa May and David Cameron—and more than 100 intelligence officials, this book explores the complex personalities who helped shape the Five Eyes. They include a Scotland Yard detective who became a spymaster and inspired the first exchanges between MI5 and the FBI. An American home economics teacher who helped create one of the most effective programmes to counter Soviet espionage. The CIA's lone officer in Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution. GCHQ's chief during the Edward Snowden intelligence leak. And the Australian politician turned diplomat whose tip-off to the FBI instigated the inquiry into Russia's meddling in the US presidential contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Richard Kerbaj is able to draw from deep inside the secret corridors of power and his unparalleled access spans all 5 countries. Some of the people he has interviewed include former GCHQ director Sir Iain Lobban, CIA director General David Petraeus, MI5 director-general Eliza Manningham-Buller, NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers, British National Security Advisor Kim Darroch, ASIO chief Mike Burgess, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's chief Richard Fadden, and Ciaran Martin, the official who oversaw Britain's assessments on whether the Chinese telecoms firm, Huawei, should have had a role in the creation of the UK's 5G network.

This audiobook will lift the lid on spy stories from across the English-speaking world, question the future of the alliance, and our place within it.

©2022 Richard Kerbaj (P)2022 Bonnier Books UK

Critic Reviews

"Puts Richard Kerbaj in the front rank of modern authors on espionage. It is, by turns, gripping and shocking and sheds completely new light on the most important intelligence alliance in the world." (Tim Shipman, author of All Out War)

What listeners say about The Secret History of the Five Eyes

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not a great narration, writing is light on analysis

An uncritical analysis that leans into opinion, including political, and sometimes lacks the objectivity that this story deserves. The writing is slightly clumsy and there is an overuse of and over-reliance on quotations, even where those quotes offer very little to the story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Educational and illuminating

Thank you for the research to pull this together, illuminating and important work..well worth the read and listen

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting story so far, awful reading

Only part way through so far. Finding it very hard going as the reader (the author) is absolutely dreadful as a reader of the work. The work itself is actually quite interesting, but the poor presentation really takes the shine off it and makes it hard to listen.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great Story, Terrible Narration!

An interesting and clearly well researched story which is unfortunately somewhat ruined by a choppy, poorly read and terrible sounding narration.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting book, terrible narration

Disjointed narration with mispronunciations of common words. Only continued listening because the book was interesting.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Poor narration

I have never struck such a poor narration as the author’s efforts in this book. Why he continues to use the “quote-close quote “ phase is mystifying and extremely distracting.

Just couldn’t get into it. Sad, as the topic is clearly interesting.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Worst narration

Don't buy this. The narration isn't listenable, even if the book is decent (don't know, couldn't keep listening)

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