Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Bloomsbury to publish Authorised History of GCHQ
19 September 2018 - 4:01PM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMBMY
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
19 September 2018
19 September 2018
BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING Plc
("Bloomsbury")
Bloomsbury chosen by GCHQ to publish Authorised History of its
first 100 years
Bloomsbury will publish the authorised history of GCHQ following
keen competition from major publishing groups in an offer conducted
by Bill Hamilton of A. M. Heath & Co.
Bloomsbury will work closely with the world-leading
intelligence, security and cyber agency to have the book ready to
mark GCHQ's 100th anniversary in 2019, with the book's publication
due for the autumn. This will be a key part of GCHQ's programme of
activities and events planned throughout its centenary year.
The history will be written by the leading signals intelligence
historian Professor John Ferris. Professor Ferris has spent most of
his career writing about secret intelligence and its effects on the
development of policy and strategy, including a year as
Scholar-in-Residence at the National Security Agency in the USA.
Working closely with GCHQ's in-house historian Tony Comer, Ferris
has been granted unprecedented access to the agency's classified
records, to chart its origins in the First World War, through
Bletchley Park and the Cold War to the present day. The archival
material consulted by Ferris will subsequently be released to The
National Archives.
Professor John Ferris said: 'It is truly exciting to be the
first historian to see these documents about GCHQ. They illuminate
a hidden but important part of the history of the British state, in
particular during the Cold War. This history will bring the actions
of the most secret of British agencies into the public domain for
the first time.'
GCHQ Historian Tony Comer said: 'GCHQ has kept Britain safe for
100 years, and will keep doing so into the future. Our centenary is
a unique moment to commemorate our past, explain more about what we
do, and inspire a new generation by celebrating the people who have
made GCHQ such a ground-breaking organisation for the last century
and continue to do so into the next.'
Bloomsbury's Publishing Director Michael Fishwick, on whose list
the book will appear, said: 'I thought the material we were shown
was fascinating, because it really was that rare thing, a new way
of reading history, like seeing the dark matter in the universe
that holds it all together or the third dimension in
three-dimensional chess. We will be seeing for the first time the
information that helped make the decisions of our leaders in
Whitehall and of the commanders on the bridge, in the field, under
the sea and in the air over the last hundred years and even
earlier; ipso facto there will be revelations on almost every
page.'
Literary Agent Bill Hamilton said: 'I am delighted that the
Bloomsbury team, who published Keith Jeffery's history of MI6 with
such panache and commercial success, has acquired this unique and
important history of the least understood of our intelligence
agencies. Their enthusiasm and engagement with the book is obvious,
and the high quality of their offer won the day.'
The authorised history of GCHQ will be published in the autumn
of 2019.
For further information, please contact:
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc +44 (0) 20 7631 5630
Nigel Newton, Chief Executive
Penny Scott-Bayfield, Group Finance Director
FTI Consulting +44 (0) 203 727 1000
Charles Palmer / Dwight Burden / Leah Dudley SCBloomsbury@fticonsulting.com
Notes to Editors
About Bloomsbury: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc is a medium-sized
independent publisher of general and academic books quoted on the
London Stock Exchange.
About GCHQ: GCHQ is an intelligence, security and cyber agency
with a mission to help keep the UK safe. Its people use
cutting-edge technology and technical ingenuity to identify,
analyse and disrupt threats in an increasingly digital world. It
works closely with MI5, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), law
enforcement, the military, and international partners to counter
real-world and online threats from nation states, criminal groups,
terrorists and individuals. The National Cyber Security Centre
(NCSC), which is part of GCHQ and was set up in October 2016, leads
the cyber security mission to make the UK the safest place to live
and do business online.
Images can be found at www.gchq.gov.uk/galleries
GCHQ Press Office can be reached at 01242 221491 x33847 and
pressoffice@gchq.gsi.gov.uk
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END
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