A Secret Well Kept

Book received from NetGalley.

This book was written by the wife of Sir Vernon Kell who founded MI5. I really enjoyed reading about how MI5 came about and its function in both The Great War and the beginning of WWII. Its small start as a seemingly unimportant part of the War department made me wonder what was kept out of the book since at that time it was focused on German spies in Great Britain. What was still classified at the time the book was published. Especially since it was written in the 50's and they still had the Cold War going on. I really didn't care much about their lives leading up to his becoming the head of the agency, though it does help you understand why he was chosen. It was an interesting book and I will definitely be looking for more on this subject.

A Secret Well Kept: The Untold Story of Sir Vernon Kell, Founder of MI5, is the biography of a man who rendered an indispensable service to his country, the details of which are only now being uncovered. The narrative comes from the personal journals of his wife, Constance. The story begins with a brief overview of Kell’s childhood before detailing his studies in college. When his gift for languages became apparent, he was offered a government position which eventually led to his becoming the founder and director of Britain’s premier counter-intelligence agency, a post he held for thirty-one years. Beginning with the Boxer Rebellion and culminating in the middle of World War II, the Kells witness an incredible amount of history, and Constance documents her husband’s illustrious career and accomplishments vividly.

A Secret Well Kept is an incredible eyewitness account of extraordinary events. Mrs. Kell’s journal gives the reader a personal perspective of her husband’s work in China, Russia, and Great Britain. Her commentary is a fascinating description of the people and the societies encountered throughout their service. This reader wishes there had been more detail on the cloak-and-dagger aspect of Kell’s career. However, A Secret Well Kept is an intriguing look at history through the eyes of those who shepherded Great Britain through two World Wars and provided pivotal intelligence. Sir Vernon’s service should not be kept secret any longer but told for generations to come.


I was given a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The modern secret services get far more coverage in the media than we might expect from an undercover agency - people like Stella Rimington have exposed some of the inner workings to the public , and should we wish to become spies we could always apply through their website!
But when did MI5 first begin its work and what stories can be told of the origins of British intelligence? In this book written by Constance Kell (from manuscripts uncovered by her great grand-daughter we have an reliable insight, for Constance was married to Sir Vernon Kell the founder and for 31 ears Director of MI5.
Constance was 20 when she married Kell and they travelled to China for their honeymoon, where two weeks later Britain was embroiled in the Boxer Rebellion.
There is no shortage of fascinating history but this is also a love story and tells of Constance's support for a man thrown into tumultuous times as Britain faced two world wars and threats from countries such as Germany and Russia were bound up in the mechanisms which now today are faced with Islamic State -and some would argue still the Russian obsession with power at all costs ( murders on our own streets by poisoning are not just plots from James Bind movies.....)
Vernon George Waldegrave Kell was born in 1873, his career destined to be as part of the army. He was a brilliant linguist and sometime foreign correspondent. He joined the War Office in 1902 just as the Special Branch (under William Melville who sought retirement) was preparing to form a new breed of counter-intelligence operatives. The Secret Service Bureau(SSB) was then formed and although funded on a small scale by the British Government, it was kept secret generally across Whitehall. Alongside Mansfield Cumming, Army Captain Kell made use of his contacts particularly in liaison with Churchill( Kell had been a year senior to cadet Churchill at Sandhurst).
As well as two world wars, there is also discussion of the situation amongst Irish Nationalists and the Bolshevik Revolutionists in Russia.
Alongside the history are the words of the tiny but indomitable Constance at his side. and the home and family life that surrounded Kell . The writing is good and detailed about the intricacies of diplomatic life. 007 might lead a globetrotting and sexy lifestyle c/o writer Ian Fleming, but here is the true account of the real world struggles and insights into the conflicts with the many politicians over the years.
It was interesting to read that despite Kell's concerns about Sir Oswald Mosely MI5 were initially refused an application to use surveillance on him and his fascist movement and that although Kell was warning of the German threat by Hitler way back in 1936 still the Government chose appeasement.
Kell was a hard working loyal man in MI5 but as World War II gained a hold even he found the service overstretched. It was sad to see that Churchill (once his friend) insisting that Kell retire in 1940. Two years later and only aged 68 Kell died.
There is much in this book that was unknown to me. Often the worry over heavy handed surveillance is opposed, but the setting up of the service and the inception of spying skills that Kell and a small band of officers in MI5 established has much to be admired.

I think, the title is a little misleading. What this is, in fact, is a quite acceptable memoir of a life shared between two people which is told in the first person narrative by Lady Kell. The story is interspersed with anecdotes of her husband's career and then his work in the creation and establishment of MI5. A juicy spy story this is not.

Honestly, I found the story of Lady Kell more interesting than that of her husband. Here was a young Irish woman who married, accompanied her husband to China, survived the Boxer Rebellion, traversed the trans-Siberian Railway back to Europe and England; witness the outbreak of WWI, survived the great influenza epidemic of 1918, saw the creation of the Irish Free State in 1921 and the outbreak of WWII! Through her husband, she rubbed shoulders with an array of interesting folk from politician, diplomats and royalty. What a woman!

For the life of Sir Vernon, Stewart Binn's introduction was really all that was required to sum up his life.