The rhythm of British intelligence

Professor Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, the Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary, University of London, will be talking about British intelligence at 6.00 p.m. on Thursday 3 May 2012 at the Old College at Aberystwyth University.

Lord Hennessy will be giving the University’s Centre for Intelligence and International Security Studies annual lecture.

The title of the lecture is ‘Tasking and Using: the Coalition, the National Security Council, the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Rhythm of British Intelligence.’

Lord Hennessy was Professor of Contemporary History at Queen Mary and Westfield College from 1992 until 2000, before being appointed Attlee Professor in 2001.

One of the founders of the Institute of Contemporary British History, he worked as a journalist for twenty year on The Times, The Financial Times and The Economist before joining Queen Mary in 1992.

Lord Hennessy is a regular panelist on BBC1’s Question Time and was a regular presenter of the BBC Radio 4 Analysis programme from 1987 to 1992.

He has also authored a number of books, amongst them Cabinet (1986); Whitehall (1989); Never Again: Britain 1945-51 (1992); Hidden Wiring: Unearthing the British Constitution (1995); The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders since 1945 (2000); The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War (2002); Having it so good: Britain in the fifties (2006); Cabinets and the Bomb (2007); and The Secret State: Preparing For The Worst 1945 - 2010 (2010).

His latest volume, Distilling the frenzy: Writing the history of one’s own times is being published by BiteBack.

Speaking ahead of the lecture, Professor Len Scott said: “Lord Peter Hennessy is one of Britain’s foremost experts in the study of contemporary nuclear and intelligence history. His writing and broadcasting have illuminated many of the most secret aspects of the British state, as it sought to move from the cold war to the world after 9/11. His books have been acclaimed as both authoritative and accessible.

“Now a cross-bench member of the House of Lords he returns to Aberystwyth to deliver the annual lecture of the Centre for Intelligence and International Security Studies and to explore the changing responses of Whitehall to the changing landscapes of security and secrecy.”

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