Open Secret: The Autobiography of the Former Director-General of Mi5

by Stella Rimington

Book Overview

During her career in MI5, which lasted from 1969 to 1996, Stella Rimington worked in all the main fields of the Service's responsibilities--counter-subversion, counter-espionage and counter-terrorism--and became successively Director of all three branches. She was appointed Director-General of MI5 in 1992. She was the first woman to hold the post and the first Director-General whose name was publicly announced on appointment.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0099436728
• ISBN13: 9780099436720
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Random House UK
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

In search of balance

I've just finished reading Ms Rimington's novels and thought I would like to know more about the woman behind them. This book provides an interesting snapshot of the times in which Ms Rimington worked: the changing face of security-related work; the changing expectations of women in the workforce and the ever present challenges of tradeoff between family and career that many of us (whether male or female) will recognise. The book itself is more a careful memoir than an autobiography as, clearly, Ms Rimington had to write within certain constraints in order to be allowed to publish at all. I found the book useful and interesting on three levels: 1. Ms Rimington's persistence in seeking promotion within a field which was considered to be a male domain; 2. Her recounting of the acknowledgement of the existence and broad responsibilities of MI5 during its shift from the shadows to statutory accountability; and 3. Some of the challenges she and her family faced in trying to combine family life with her career. Many people, particularly women who've chosen to combine career with family will relate to the challenges faced by Ms Rimington. Some of us, familiar with some of the events broadly recounted in the book will be interested in reading Ms Rimington's perspective. Reading the book 7 years after publication, it is perhaps difficult to appreciate the negative publicity engendered at the time. Perhaps we have travelled some distance after all. Jennifer Cameron-Smith

No Secret: Stella Rules, Britannia!

I purchased this book after hearing an interview with Ms. Rimington on BBC 4, and I must say, I found her engaging both on the radio and in print. She is a talented writer, whose eventful life--from childhood during the blitz, through her days as a diplomatic wife in India; her experiences as an archivist; and her almost accidental career in MI5 [the old-school-tie male bastion which she penetrated with panache]--is related with considerable charm and humor (essential requirements for being an effective spy). On the back of the book, under a series of rave blurbs is a negative one by an individual of the male persuasion, whose non-endorsement guaranteed my determination to read the book. And I quote: "The most effective Secret Service is the one which is secret. She should shut up." Well, that horse was stolen from the barn years ago, and the service that once dared not speak its name has long since--thanks to ex-intelligence officers writing their memoirs right and left--become the service that will not shut up! Stella Rimington, the intelligent woman who made it to the director-generalship of MI5, adds a refreshing perspective to the male-dominated literature of British intelligence.