This page is an expanding record of British government policy as revealed in the formerly secret, now declassified documents available at the National Archives in London. The articles are excerpts from the books Web of Deceit and Unpeople; these contain the full references to the documents. The documents are the declassified files themselves, which are gradually being added to this site.
Many British government documents are declassified after thirty years; but the ‘thirty-year rule’ allows for numerous exceptions – the reality is that a huge number of documents remain classified at the whim of government departments. Censorship is routine and the ‘secret state’ is alive and well.
Articles
The war in Malaya, 1948-60
The Mau Mau war in Kenya, 1952-60
The coup in Iran, 1953
The intervention in British Guiana, 1953
The war in Oman, 1957-59
The covert war in Indonesia, 1957-59
The US war in Vietnam, 1961-73
The covert war in Yemen, 1962-70
The ‘coup’ in British Guiana, 1963
The massacres in Iraq, 1963
Iraq’s attack on the Kurds, 1963-65
The slaughters in Indonesia, 1965
The depopulation of the Chagos Islands, 1965-73
Nigeria’s war over Biafra, 1967-70
The rise of Idi Amin in Uganda, 1971-72
The Pinochet coup in Chile, 1973
Documents
Britain and radical movements in Arabia, 1958
‘British overseas obligations’, 1958
Israel and the bomb, 1961
‘Cuban developments and their impact on the Caribbean’, 1961
‘The British interest in oil’, 1967
‘British Foreign Policy’, 1968
‘British policy towards Israel, the Arab states and the US’, 1970
‘Future British policy towards the Arab/Israel dispute’, 1970
these declassified documents are such an amazing resource, thank you mark for making them more readily accessible, and for helping me to feel a little less insane when i think about british foreign policy. the first step in establishing a meaningful critique has to be to unlearn all the dogma to which we have been subject all our lives, to realise that there is a difference between a fact and something that we have always been told by concentrations of power within our societies. these documents help to enable such a learning process. thanks very much for your ongoing work on these subjects x
Just to say thanks Mark. Not even sure if you will see this, but feel compelled to express gratitude for your work and efforts. Keep it up.
As usual Mark, you have done brilliant work and act with real courage unlike most British historians who are there to service power elites. To others possibley reading this, please read Mark’s books whether or not you agree with his views as at least he provides sources rather than concentrating on journalists for’objective’ reporting.
Just finished reading Unpeople. That’s certainly one of the most thoroughly referenced documents I’ve ever read.
It’s refreshing to read something where the labour of discarding the deluge of opinion and picking out the relevent facts here and there is scarcely neccessary. Presenting information from impeccable sources, as you clearly have, is invaluable.
Opinions can be ignored, rebutted, ridiculed or just shrugged off, facts cannot.
Keep going with it.
I am reading through “Unpeople” again. The perfect antidote to those Brits who like to insinuate the US is leading the UK astray. The UK ruling class are culpable and consenting parties in all the post-war imperialist skull duggery.
Hi Mark,
I am searching for information to research a relative of mine who served in MI6 shortly after WW2, and I believe, was sold out by the British government of the time. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to email me and give me a few pointers on where to start looking.
Regards