Cautious Beginnings - Canadian Foreign Intelligence, 1939-51 (Electronic book text)

When World War II began, Canada had no foreign intelligence capacity. At the time, Canada's political leaders concluded that a clandestine intelligence service was not essential to meet the nation's intelligence requirements. Yet, by the early 1950's, Canada possessed foreign intelligence resources that rivalled or exceeded those of many nations. Cautious Beginnings reveals how the government created an intelligence organization during the war that aided Allied resources and established operations such as Signal Intelligence interception and Human Intelligence. In the postwar years, Canada went on to reconfigure its foreign intelligence to meet the challenges of a changing world and establish the framework for the nation's current intelligence capabilities. Kurt Jensen makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the early foundations and evolution of security and intelligence in Canada. Drawing on newly released materials and exhaustive research, this book will greatly interest students and academics in Canadian history, political science, military history, specialists in the field, and anyone interested in the often mysterious world of foreign intelligence.