Module manager: Professor Simon Ball
Email: S.J.Ball@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
‘Haydon also took it for granted that secret services were the only real measure of a nation’s political health, the only real expression of its subconscious.’ John le Carré, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974), p. 370. This special subject will deepen your knowledge of the post-1909 role of secret intelligence for Britain. It will do so by going beyond the institutional history of particular intelligence services and interrogating the nature of an overarching culture of intelligence, manifested both in the intelligence community and the wider public sphere. Britain will be placed in comparative perspective through secondary reading on other national intelligence cultures. In the module we will investigate the discourse on secret intelligence within the British intelligence community, and the public sphere. We will also investigate the practice of secret intelligence by the British state and the impact of major wars on secret intelligence. This will enable us to develop our understanding of the differences between British intelligence culture and practice, and that of other major nations. We will examine three main types of source: 1. Documents produced by the secret intelligence services. 2. Analytical contemporary comment on the intelligence services, often produced by former officers. 3. Commentary on, and narrative of, secret service, sometimes fictional and imaginative, produced for the public sphere. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The objective of the module is to introduce you to the analysis of modern British secret intelligence using secondary literature and primary sources in English.
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. have a deep and informed understanding of the structure and culture of British secret intelligence since 1909;
2. understand the different kinds of sources historians use to investigate modern secret intelligence;
3. have a sophisticated and critical knowledge of the secondary literature on British secret intelligence;
4. have the skills to read and interpret both written primary sources;
5. are able to express their ideas and arguments effectively and persuasively on paper and in scholarly discussion.
The sources are in modern English. The secondary literature, too, is in English. The subject is instantly accessible, but requires imagination and very fine analytical skills. John le Carré once remarked that, ‘the lies that have been distributed are so many and so persistent that arguably fiction is the only way to tell the truth.’
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Supervision | 2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Seminars | 20 | 2 | 40 |
| Private study hours | 355.6 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 44.4 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 400 | ||
4,000-word essay: students will have the opportunity to discuss an essay plan in an individual meeting with their tutor
Portfolio: students will have the opportunity to discuss each element of the portfolio with their tutor.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay or Dissertation | Essay | 50 |
| Portfolio | Portfolio | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 28/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team