Spies in Uniform

Did the British Government go to war in 1914 because of a well-founded fear of a German threat or did it, as some would now argue, send thousands to their deaths to fight against a danger, the existence of which was not even backed by any hard intelligence? To address this question, Spies in Uniform examines the information sent back from Germany by the Government's principal intelligence source, its 'men on the spot', the service attachs in Berlin. Using their reports, previously thought to have been lost, the book demonstrates that the intelligence picture of Germany available to the British government was of a nation that posed a real and imminent threat. In this light, Britain's decision for war in 1914 is easily explained.