Renowned scholar C. Walton presents the secret history of the end of the British Empire and the involvement of British intelligence in this process. The author provides a panoramic overview of covert government actions—from wartime spying in the deserts of North Africa to dubious backroom contacts with African dictators; from punitive actions against the insurgent movement in the jungles of Malaya, Kenya, and the mountains of Cyprus, to military operations in Palestine and on the Arabian Peninsula. Walton reveals CIA conspiracies and secret activities in British colonies, killings carried out by KGB agents, and failed coups sponsored by the governments of Great Britain and the United States in the Middle East—whose main aim was to seize oil and other natural resources. The book is based on newly declassified intelligence documents and private collections from a number of archives.