Five eyes’ refers to the combined intelligence[1]gathering capacity of the USA, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. This geopolitical relationship began prior to the onset of World War II, when the Americans and British worked together (with significant lapses of cooperation) to decode Nazi signals. The other three countries were co-opted later.

Kerbaj focuses this history on certain characters, rather than regurgitating events. Jessie Jordan, for instance, was a Scottish-born Nazi sympathiser working as a letterbox dropper. Her involvement was relatively minor, but led to the arrest of a German spy in America. Other names will be more familiar.

As befitting the secret services, there is a maze of acronyms and a labyrinth of names. While each chapter may focus on one particular character, a plethora of other characters intrudes. It’s often difficult to discern who is who and which side they might be on.

Allies are not always friendly. Some conflicts are covert: secrets may be shared, but sometimes withheld; and revelations of spying on each other might temporarily fray relationships. Some conflicts are definitively overt, such as the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand. Politics and the country’s own spy agency can also be in opposition, as when the UK’s Ted Heath wanted links with the EU, and when Gough Whitlam bridled at the secrecy surrounding America’s activities at Pine Gap.

The Cold War is covered within the middle chapters, but Russia’s recent incursions are agonisingly familiar. History doesn’t repeat, it just never goes away.

Reviewed by Bob Moore