Electronic Espionage ~

SPECIAL OPERATOR The Rise and Fall of a Cut-Price Spy

Reviews posted on Amazon

Listed below are some of the reviews by purchasers of this book. Pleased that they are mostly 5 Star but for the sake of honesty I have listed the only two critical reviews received so far and leave it to you dear reader to form your own opinion on their worth.

1. 5.0 out of 5 stars. By kelling on 3 Jan. 2016 Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

This is a must read for those who have an interest in the secret world of SIGINT ( Signals Intelligence ). Although books on the subject are already in circulation,few if any cover the work of the Special Operators in such depth. Those were the people who were trained to intercept the raw signals traffic from which the intelligence was made available to the security services ( MI5, MI6, ) the Government and Military Commanders. Chris Boyd knows his subject well and takes the reader on a roller coaster of a ride through the world of spies and spying,as seen and experienced through his own eyes. His story has elements in it of an Indiana Jones adventure,with splashes of humour,for good measure,that could well have come from an episode of the sitcom 'It ain't Half Hot Mum'. More than anything though the book goes a long way in acknowledging the important role played by the Special Operators from all three services in protecting our country. Highly recommended.

2. 4.0 out of 5 stars. By J. D. Hall on 3 Feb. 2016 Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

This book will be of interest to most people with a forces background (especially RAF), including the families who accompanied them on various postings abroad. The writer was a colleague and personal friend of my father and his time in Hong Kong and Singapore evoked many memories, happy and otherwise. Working class men in 1950s HK were a long way from home with no skype or email to keep in quick touch with their families. Even phones were difficult. Consequently, the touching tale of Brummie's mother's bread and butter pudding, arriving in HK after several weeks' travel by ship, reminded me of my own family food parcels. The techie details would probably have earned the author some roubles during the Cold War years, which brings me to the rather embittered tone of the final chapter. My "civilian" friends at the time generally did not believe the atmosphere of Big Brother control that affected even forces' children. If you are non-forces yourself, or if the name "Doug Brittain" means nothing to you, you might find Chris Boyd's suspicions that his phone was tapped, even after he left the service, simply for having a German wife and appearing to have more worldly goods than his salary would justify, hard to believe. You might dismiss his suspicions as paranoia. I don't - as a very trivial example, my father's concern for his career meant he banned me (aged 14) from writing to the Chinese Legation to demand my free copy of Chairman Mao's little red book. Another forces friend was advised never to tell her schoolfriends that her father was in Signals - "just say RAF, no more". Finally, Chris Boyd's description of how he received his BEM, which should have been a matter of pride, shows the RAF of the Cold War years in a very poor light indeed.

3. 5.0 out of 5 starsBy David Topham on 27 Dec. 2015