The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners - Hardcover

Milne, Seumas

4.14

299 ratings by Goodreads

9780860914617: The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0860914615 ISBN 13: 9780860914617

Publisher: Verso Books, 1994

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Margaret Thatcher branded the leaders of the 1984-5 miners' strike as "the enemy within" - a furtive political clique out to undermine democracy and liberty. This book reveals the irony of Thatcher's accusation. For an "enemy within" was at work inside the National Union of Mineworkers. But it was not a force hell-bent on subversion of the British state. Quite the opposite - it was the secret service of the British state itself. This book follows the war waged by successive Tory governments against Britain's miners. It draws together the threads of a story which travels from Sheffield and London, to Moscow, Tripoli and Dublin, recounting the astonishing lengths to which the intelligence services were prepared to go in their most ambitious counter-subversion operation ever mounted. Drawing on access to sources and informants from all sides, the author exposes spying and dirty tricks against the NUM on an epic scale. Naming names and providing a wealth of never-before-published detail, Suemas Milne shows how MI5 was involved in a series of elaborate smears against Arthur Scargill and his closest associates, which drew in Labour politicians, Conservative minister and the media empire of Robert Maxwell. Running operations against the NUM was the woman who now presents the "new face" of MI5 - Stella Rimington.

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Review:

"Riveting. It knocks spots off the usual 'whodunnit.'"--"Guardian""One of the most remarkable demolition jobs ever."--"Spectator""An astonishing book."--"The Nation""The most important expose of contemporary political Britain I have read."--John Pilger"A tribute to detailed journalistic investigation ... strips away the myths and lies."--"New Statesman""A real-life thriller."--"Evening Standard""Ground-breaking ... Milne reveals the extreme lengths to which the Conservative government was willing to go to crush the miner's union."--"Independent"

About the Author:

Seumas Milne is a columnist and Associate Editor on the "Guardian" and the paper's former Comment Editor. He was previously the "Guardian"'s Labour Editor and a staff journalist on the Economist. He is the author of "The Enemy Within" and co-author of "Beyond the Casino Economy."

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