Serving Secretly- An Intelligence Chief on Record Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964-1981

SERVING SECRETLY- An Intelligence Chief on Record- Rhodesia into Zimbabwe 1964-1981. Hardback with unclipped dustcover. First Edition 1987.

For the first time a Head of Secret Intelligence from the British sphere of influence has written his memoir. SERVING SECRETLY is a picture of the real world of Intelligence, far removed from the speculations of journalists and the fictions of thriller writers.

In 1963, Ken Flower, as a senior Commissioner of Police in Rhodesia was suddenly asked to go 'faceless' and set up a Secret Service organisation from scratch. Within months, the security situation began to deteriorate and he found himself with Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front hardliners as political masters, intent on pursuing UDI. Britain retaliated with sanctions and the black resistance movements started receiving international support.

Throughout the period, Ken Flower's three most important tasks were to infiltrate the resistance movements, keep covert communications open with Britain and other countries, and try to make Ian Smith's Government face the realities of the situation. In the first two he was successful until the collapse of Portuguese power in Mozambique found Rhodesia fighting on that border as well as on the Zambian. This success was a major reason why he failed in his third task. Smith was happy to swallow his own propaganda and believe he could stave off majority rule by military means.

Eventually, a political solution had to be found and Robert Mugabe emerged from Lancaster House and the subsequent elections as the unexpected new ruler of Zimbabwe. One of his first acts was to appoint Ken Flower as Head of the Secret Service.

Drawing on sources not generally available, often suppressed in the past, SERVING SECRETLY is one of the most remarkable stories to emerge in the last thirty years. Quite apart from providing a fascinating insight into the actual business of running a secret service intelligence operation, it will force many revisions to be made to the hitherto accepted history of Rhodesia-Zimbabwe.

Half Title, Title, List of Illustrations, Maps, Acknowledgements, Foreword by Sir Humphrey Gibbs, Chronology, Abbreviations. xx plus 330 pages text and index, with supporting photographs and data.

Very Good

ISBN 0 7195 4438 6