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Molehunt: Searching for Spies in Mi5
Ever since that fateful day in May19511 when Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean defected to Russia, the British Security Service has been tormented by the knowledge that it had been penetrated at a high level by a Soviet mole.
Over the years, there has been much speculation about the identity of the person responsible for the tip-off. At first Kim Philby was blamed, but later it became evident that the original warning could not have come from him, and must have been given by someone inside MI5. Gradually, the evidence accumulated and it became clear to MI5's molehunters that a spy had climbed to the very highest echelons of their own organisation. A series of top-secret investigations were conducted, but their results, up until now, have never been fully revealed. The name of just one of the suspects, Sir Roger Hollis, has been leaked but, for legal reasons, it has never been possible to tell the full story.
Now, following submissions made in a bizarre court case in Australia and the recent deaths of two crucial witnesses, it is possible to expose the whole incredible truth: the plots, the molehunts and the cover-ups - even evidence that Peter Wright was not aware of.
Was Hollis really a spy? Why did Peter Wright break his oath of lifelong secrecy? What was Lord Rothschild's involvement? The answers are stranger than any spy fiction, and twice as compelling.
Over the years, there has been much speculation about the identity of the person responsible for the tip-off. At first Kim Philby was blamed, but later it became evident that the original warning could not have come from him, and must have been given by someone inside MI5. Gradually, the evidence accumulated and it became clear to MI5's molehunters that a spy had climbed to the very highest echelons of their own organisation. A series of top-secret investigations were conducted, but their results, up until now, have never been fully revealed. The name of just one of the suspects, Sir Roger Hollis, has been leaked but, for legal reasons, it has never been possible to tell the full story.
Now, following submissions made in a bizarre court case in Australia and the recent deaths of two crucial witnesses, it is possible to expose the whole incredible truth: the plots, the molehunts and the cover-ups - even evidence that Peter Wright was not aware of.
Was Hollis really a spy? Why did Peter Wright break his oath of lifelong secrecy? What was Lord Rothschild's involvement? The answers are stranger than any spy fiction, and twice as compelling.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 9, 2018
A very good companion book to read before/after Peter Wright's "Spycatcher" book. Covers the history of "Molehunt" searches for traitors within the ranks of the Security Service, mainly in the post-war era. The topic is addressed with the characteristic West thoroughness, so much so in fact, that it's sometimes necessary to reread a paragraph or two in order to get one's facts/understanding straight. This is also sometimes necessary due to (for me at least) West's occasionally "odd" sentence structure. Nevertheless an interesting and engaging read for espionage aficionados and students of history.
May 11, 2026
Blimey! Having followed spies and spying since my Treasury days this is the first time I have realised that there were so many alleged spies knocking about the Security Service departments. 'Reds Under the Bed' was a phrase when I worked in Whitehall, well it would seem from Nigel West's Molehunt' that they were more than just under the bed - they were everywhere. And what's more it seemed as if the Security Services were not sure who many of them were. It all reminded me of the training course run by the Security Service I attended many years ago when (much younger and not quite so aware) I was agog with some of the stories that were told to give examples of spying activities. Not only agog but worried as well for after each day (a five-day course) I used to return to my office in the Treasury by circuitous routes because the course was so intense that I imagined that foreign agents might be following me. Probably ridiculous but that was the message that the tutors put over to us!
Having said that let me get down to this book which is very intense and begins with some background to the Burgess and Maclean affair of the early 1950s as that seems to have been when the issue of spies and spying really caught on.And that was when there was suspicion of other agents who had been passing on information to the two fleeing spies so that they could make their getaway safely and opportunely. So that is why a molehunt was going on and this is declared as 'The Full Story ...'. I am not too sure that is strictly correct as the adjective in that statement is far from obvious when reading the text. And, at times there does seem, on occasion, to even be some doubt in the author's mind, and certainly in this reader's mind, whether or not it is indeed the 'Full' story as there seems to still be doubt as to whether there is more to the story than has come out. And when the final chapter is entitled 'Conclusive Proof', the superb and investigative text still leaves the question open as to whether or not there is anything 'conclusive' about the final outcome.
At least two high-ranking officers of the Security Service were under suspicion and there was nothing conclusive as to whether either of them was innocent or guilty of treachery. There was evidence either way and nothing absolutely definitive comes out in the end. Yes, a reasonable argument can be put forward for either of those officers, one way or another being involved in underhand work prejudicial to the nation. But nothing concrete and the number of references to the mendacious behaviour of some of the participants is often questioned. Indeed one of the appendices is the White Paper that was issued after the Burgess and Maclean defection. It is reprinted and the author's notes that accompany it even use the world 'lies' about some of the statements therein.
It is a most readable and thought-provoking book but what is true or false is sometimes unclear, especially from some of the defectors who are reporting back after they have switched sides. And that switching sides is more active than one imagines for at times there are statements about the Security Service/MI5/MI6 investigating 'up to 200 suspects'. Good grief they must very definitely have been 'under the beds'!
The book is very definitely well worth a read but it is up to the reader to make up his/her mind as to what to think about the whole situation. I realise that more has become available since this book was written (1987) and there is speculation about what else could come out within its pages because Peter Wright plays a large part in the later stages of the investigation. Wright's book 'Spycatcher' and elements of the trial that was created about its publication does come into the story with the implication that there may well be more to learn.
Having said that let me get down to this book which is very intense and begins with some background to the Burgess and Maclean affair of the early 1950s as that seems to have been when the issue of spies and spying really caught on.And that was when there was suspicion of other agents who had been passing on information to the two fleeing spies so that they could make their getaway safely and opportunely. So that is why a molehunt was going on and this is declared as 'The Full Story ...'. I am not too sure that is strictly correct as the adjective in that statement is far from obvious when reading the text. And, at times there does seem, on occasion, to even be some doubt in the author's mind, and certainly in this reader's mind, whether or not it is indeed the 'Full' story as there seems to still be doubt as to whether there is more to the story than has come out. And when the final chapter is entitled 'Conclusive Proof', the superb and investigative text still leaves the question open as to whether or not there is anything 'conclusive' about the final outcome.
At least two high-ranking officers of the Security Service were under suspicion and there was nothing conclusive as to whether either of them was innocent or guilty of treachery. There was evidence either way and nothing absolutely definitive comes out in the end. Yes, a reasonable argument can be put forward for either of those officers, one way or another being involved in underhand work prejudicial to the nation. But nothing concrete and the number of references to the mendacious behaviour of some of the participants is often questioned. Indeed one of the appendices is the White Paper that was issued after the Burgess and Maclean defection. It is reprinted and the author's notes that accompany it even use the world 'lies' about some of the statements therein.
It is a most readable and thought-provoking book but what is true or false is sometimes unclear, especially from some of the defectors who are reporting back after they have switched sides. And that switching sides is more active than one imagines for at times there are statements about the Security Service/MI5/MI6 investigating 'up to 200 suspects'. Good grief they must very definitely have been 'under the beds'!
The book is very definitely well worth a read but it is up to the reader to make up his/her mind as to what to think about the whole situation. I realise that more has become available since this book was written (1987) and there is speculation about what else could come out within its pages because Peter Wright plays a large part in the later stages of the investigation. Wright's book 'Spycatcher' and elements of the trial that was created about its publication does come into the story with the implication that there may well be more to learn.
July 9, 2026
A riveting if complex and often impenetrable account of the investigation into the claims that there was a Soviet agent working at a very high level within the British counter-espionage organization, MI5.
West, the pen-name of Rupert Allason, a former Conservative MP and prolific author of books on the intelligence and security services (and frequent litigator) delves deeply into the story of post-war espionage and the possibility, or even probability that there was at least one mole, i.e. deep penetration agent, working within MI5. He recounts the now very familiar tale of the flight of Burgess and Maclean in 1951 after being tipped off that they had been rumbled and were about to be interrogated; the Philby and Blunt and Cairncross connections etc etc. It follows on from a spate of books written in the 1980s, kick-started by Andrew Boyle’s Climate of Treason and several works by Daily Express journalist Chapman Pincher. It was evident that Pincher’s source was Peter Wright, who famously went public with his claims in Spycatcher, published shortly after this book. Indeed, this work turns into a detailed account of the attempts to get Spycatcher published and the increasingly desperate and unavailing attempts by the authorities to prevent it.
Essentially, Wright claimed that Roger Hollis, head of MI5 from the late-fifties to the mid-sixties, was a Soviet agent, recruited like the Cambridge spies very early in life. West’s argument is that Wright is wrong and that the real culprit was Graham Mitchell, the deputy head at roughly the same time. His evidence for this I do not find totally convincing, depending as it does, on largely circumstantial matters and more specifically his slightly misleading 1955 report into the Burgess/Maclean imbroglio. He seems to find this damning, though all it shows are some inaccuracies that only may be construed as consequential.
The prose is dense and written for the aficionado of security matters and espionage, and it could do with some elucidation; in particular a basic explanation of the respective roles of MI5 and MI6 (SIS), what they do and how they function. Instead we are pitchforked into a blistering tale of Mr X who was head of F department and Mr Y who was deputy head of K section but was moved to be assistant head of J registry in year ??, and Soviet defector Comrade G and so and so on. It can be very bewildering.
Fascinating all the same.
West, the pen-name of Rupert Allason, a former Conservative MP and prolific author of books on the intelligence and security services (and frequent litigator) delves deeply into the story of post-war espionage and the possibility, or even probability that there was at least one mole, i.e. deep penetration agent, working within MI5. He recounts the now very familiar tale of the flight of Burgess and Maclean in 1951 after being tipped off that they had been rumbled and were about to be interrogated; the Philby and Blunt and Cairncross connections etc etc. It follows on from a spate of books written in the 1980s, kick-started by Andrew Boyle’s Climate of Treason and several works by Daily Express journalist Chapman Pincher. It was evident that Pincher’s source was Peter Wright, who famously went public with his claims in Spycatcher, published shortly after this book. Indeed, this work turns into a detailed account of the attempts to get Spycatcher published and the increasingly desperate and unavailing attempts by the authorities to prevent it.
Essentially, Wright claimed that Roger Hollis, head of MI5 from the late-fifties to the mid-sixties, was a Soviet agent, recruited like the Cambridge spies very early in life. West’s argument is that Wright is wrong and that the real culprit was Graham Mitchell, the deputy head at roughly the same time. His evidence for this I do not find totally convincing, depending as it does, on largely circumstantial matters and more specifically his slightly misleading 1955 report into the Burgess/Maclean imbroglio. He seems to find this damning, though all it shows are some inaccuracies that only may be construed as consequential.
The prose is dense and written for the aficionado of security matters and espionage, and it could do with some elucidation; in particular a basic explanation of the respective roles of MI5 and MI6 (SIS), what they do and how they function. Instead we are pitchforked into a blistering tale of Mr X who was head of F department and Mr Y who was deputy head of K section but was moved to be assistant head of J registry in year ??, and Soviet defector Comrade G and so and so on. It can be very bewildering.
Fascinating all the same.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews