Leading figures from the world of military affairs nominate the most compelling book on their subject in 2016

The Times online – 24 December 2016

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Dr Julian Lewis MP, Chairman, House of Commons Defence Committee:

The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers by Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac (Collins)

Thatcher augmented MI5 and MI6 with private ideological operators. Blair was an “incompetent intelligence consumer”. Cameron “misled the public through oversimplification” – alleging Syrian government chemical attacks which may have been a rebel “set-up”. In these and other judgments, the authors demonstrate perceptiveness, lucidity and total command of their subject.