Key Locations
Some suggested spots to duck into to check plans or lose a tail...
Raffles London at The OWO (The Old War Office) 57 Whitehall, SW1A 2BX
Now one of London’s most luxurious – and expensive – hotels, offering a perfect base for an indulgent exploration of London’s spy haunts, The OWO can lay a strong claim to be the site of the conception and birth of MI5 and MI6.
The Red Lion, 48 Parliament Street, SW1A 2NH
Opposite the Foreign Office and Treasury, and a stone’s throw from Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament, this traditional pub was identified in 2025 as being one of a number of hotspots government officials should avoid because of the risks of being eavesdropped on.
The Royal Horseguards Hotel, 2 Whitehall Court, SW1A 2EJ
Marked with a Blue Plaque, the original 'C', Mansfield Cumming, led the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau from this splendid mansion block that is now a hotel.
The Savoy, The Strand, WC2R 0EZ
This landmark hotel has long been a favourite of spies and their masters. The hotel’s American Bar was a favoured meeting spot for intelligence officers, as was the Savoy Grill, where novelists Ian Fleming and John le Carré were regulars.
SOME SUGGESTED SPOTS TO DUCK INTO TO CHECK PLANS OR LOSE A TAIL
Pre-Mission Briefing
A selection of recommended reading to prepare you for your mission...
The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 - Christopher Andrew
Andrew’s book is the definitive introduction to the history of MI5. Drawing on unprecedented access to the Service’s archives, Andrew traces MI5’s development from its creation in 1909 as the Security Service Bureau to its contemporary counter-intelligence role.
The Secret Intelligence Service: The History of the British Secret Service Bureau 1909–1949 - Keith Jeffery
This history of MI6 is the natural companion to Andrew’s MI5 study. Jeffery was given unprecedented access to SIS records and tells the story of the origins of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, from the creation of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909 through to the Second World War.
Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Agency - John Ferris
Ferris provides an excellent introduction to the origins of Britain’s signals intelligence tradition, tracing the path from First World War codebreaking through Bletchley Park and the creation of GCHQ after 1945.
A Secret Well Kept: The Untold Story of Sir Vernon Kell, Founder of MI5 - Constance Kell
Written by Kell’s wife, this provides a personal portrait of the man behind the creation of Britain’s domestic intelligence service. It follows his journey from the establishment of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909, and explores his role in building the organisation from a small office into a professional counter-espionage service.
The Quest for C: Mansfield Cumming and the Founding of the Secret Service - Alan Judd
Judd explores the life of the first head of the Foreign Section of the Secret Service Bureau and tells how Cumming built the organisation that would develop into the Secret Intelligence Service (better known as MI6). His title ‘C’ became the traditional designation for its chief.
Alastair Denniston: Code-breaking from Room 40 to Berkeley Street and the Birth of GCHQ - Joel Greenberg
This book tells the story of one of the most important but least well-known figures in the history of British intelligence. An organiser and institution-builder, Denniston’s career began in Room 40 during the First World War, where British naval codebreakers achieved major successes against German communications. He went on to play a key role in the establishment of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), the fore-runner of GCHQ.
Safe House Suggestions
Could be worth packing one or two of these to help while away the long hours on a stakeout, or when lying low...
The Riddle of the Sands - Erskine Childers
Published back in 1903 and widely regarded as the first great modern spy novel, it follows two English yachtsmen who stumble upon evidence of German naval preparations in the North Sea, and uncover vulnerabilities in Britain’s coastal defences. Like many great espionage novels, the two are amateurs stumbling into a secret world, which is grounded in geographic and naval detail. It helped shape the mindset in which early British intelligence thinking developed. The film is a classic too.
Spies of the Kaiser - William Le Queux
Le Queux’s fiction, such as this 1909 thriller stoked the Edwardian spy panic, with dastardly German agents planning sabotage and invasion. It fuelled the climate of anxiety that surrounded the years immediately before the creation of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909. Its importance lies not in its literary merit but as a work that helped get the British reading public hooked on the genre.
The Thirty-Nine Steps - John Buchan
An undoubted classic. This is a fast-moving thriller built around the idea of hidden enemies operating within Britain itself. Written during the First World War, it captures the atmosphere of suspicion and urgency that surrounded the early development of MI5-style counter-espionage work. Again we have an ordinary man, Richard Hannay, drawn into an espionage plot. The underlying message - national security depends on alert individuals as well as formal institutions. Again, a number of great film versions.
No. 2 Whitehall Court - Alan Judd
For a more contemporary take on the times, and a counterpart to his non-fiction work, in this 2025 novel Judd portrays the early days of the Secret Service Bureau. From the perspective of a fictional recruit, he explores how Mansfield Cumming’s new organisation as it adapts to wartime challenges.