HN Books @HNBooksMonth

I immediately thought of Peter Wright's bio [1]:

> The Registry employed enormous numbers of girls to maintain efficient delivery of files within the building, as well as the massive task of sorting, checking, and filing the incoming material. In Kell's day the Registry Queens, as they were known, were recruited either from the aristocracy or from the families of MI5 officers. Kell had a simple belief that this was the best vetting of all. [...]

> By the early 1970s the staffing of the Registry had become a major problem for MI5. There were more than three hundred girls employed and with the surge of file collection at that time the pressure for more recruits was never-ending. Openly advertising was considered impossible. Yet it was becoming very difficult to recruit this number of girls, let alone vet them properly. In at least one case, the Communist Party managed to infiltrate a girl into the Registry, but she was soon discovered and quietly sacked. This problem, rather than dissatisfaction with the increasingly antiquated filing system itself, finally pushed MI5, belatedly, into accepting a computerized [sic] Registry.

As the quote hints, large landholdings and a family with long standing ties to the country (i.e. old money) are great ways to ensure loyalty, both emotional and financial, and loyalty is much more precious than ability in intelligence work.

The Cambridge Five were a very public (and rare, if costly) failure of this system, and Yuri Modin (their handler) claims [2] that the tension between the middle class, Scottish-accented John Cairncross and his upper class colleagues was part of what pushed him over.

The British merchant banks' eventual deaths at the hands of meritocratic American ones is strong evidence that this is not a good system in areas where ability is more valuable than trust.

[1] Peter Wright, Spycatcher - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spycatcher-Candid-Autobiography-Int...

[2] Yuri Modin, My Five Cambridge Friends - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Cambridge-Friends-Cairncross-C... - Modin died a hero in Moscow after a prestigious career including heading the KGB's Active Measures department, so it could be mostly disinformation, but his observations on human character are still great.

⬐ branchless

Another example: Cameron. Led us into Brexit due to a massive miscalculation. Not a capable man but the Brits insist on picking leaders from a few thousand upper-class twits. His Chancellor and Eton chum was also a disaster.

⬐ slaymaker1907

Americans don't seem to be doing much better in that regard. In fact, Trump has the worst education of any president in recent memory.

⬐ None

None

⬐ ElEmEnOhP

He graduated from Wharton which is one of the most prestigious business schools in the country.

⬐ branchless

Clearly their essay standards are not high. His use of English is dire. Recognise that schools give degrees to rich people.

⬐ arethuza

Actually, by traditional definitions definitions Cameron is middle class, very upper middle class, but middle class.

His father actually worked for a living and he probably had to buy his own furniture...

⬐ ionised

> His father actually worked for a living

And hid away significant amounts of cash in offshore tax havens

Not a long list, but I'd recommend these:

- The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat ~ Oliver Sacks, 1985. This book contains tales of some of the Sacks's patients. A very interesting read. [1]

- The Mind's Eye ~ Oliver Sacks, 2010. [2]

- Spy Catcher (Autobiography of a MI5 agent) ~ Peter Wright, 1987. [3]

- Applied Cryptography ~ Bruce Schneier, 1994. Approachable and succinate language of this book makes it easier to understand. [4]

[1] http://www.amazon.in/Man-Who-Mistook-his-Wife/dp/0330523627

[2] http://www.amazon.in/Minds-Eye-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0330508903/

[3] https://www.amazon.com/Spy-Catcher-Autobiography-Intelligenc...

[4] http://www.amazon.in/Applied-Cryptography-Protocols-Algorith...

⬐ sateesh

If you like books by Sacks I would also recommend reading "Phantoms in the brain" by S.Ramachandran

⬐ prashnts

Thanks! We had an elaborate discussion on VS Ramachandran's work at uni. last semester. I'd definitely read this one.