Rory Cormac tells the story of the UK’s use of spies and special forces to interfere in the affairs of other nations.

From 1945, successive British prime ministers turned to the hidden hand to mask national decline. From whispering campaigns to coups, forgeries to secret wars, the UK’s covert operations targeted communists and nationalists alike.

Cormac discusses secret operations, the slush funds that paid for them, and the Whitehall battles that shaped them.

Rory Cormac is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a leading expert among a new generation of intelligence historians. He specialises in British covert operations and the secret pursuit of foreign policy.

His most recent book, and the subject of this talk, is Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy.

Rory Cormac will be in conversation with Dr Peter Johnson, Head of Academic Access and Collections Research at the National Army Museum.