Do you remember learning about the British Empire at school and wondering how exactly such a teeny tiny nation managed to maintain an Empire on which the sun never set? Well, at that age my mind didn’t process it quite like that. It was more, ‘but it’s SO BIG. And we’re so SMALL. Hey who’s read the latest Sleepover Club book?’
Years later and it’s still a question that I think about. LUCKILY there's someone here to answer my questions. William Beaver explains exactly how the Empire was maintained in his book, Under Every Leaf: How Britain Played the Greater Game from Afghanistan to Africa. We know more about the twentieth-century history of Britain's secret intelligence services than ever before, but next to nothing about their Victorian antecedents. This book fills that gap, telling the story of the Intelligence Division of the War Office from 1856 to 1909 – when MI6 was founded – and the hidden role that the Intelligence Division played in acquiring Britain's vast empire without a major European or Asian war. In examining its influence in the formation of imperial policy-making and execution, Under Every Leaf is also a rollicking good read, shedding new light on the reality behind the partition of Africa, the Great Game in Asia, brains over brawn, espionage, adventure and dedicated wholehearted commitment, sacrifice and service to the Imperial ideal.
Really though? Could we really rule so far and wide because we knew more STUFF? Now that really is a mystery for the Sleepover Club girls. Or you could just watch this interview with William, and he will explain further. We spoke to William to find out why we have known so little about Victorian intelligence until now, how it helped build the Empire, and the greatest problem faced by intelligence officers today.