{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.028735632183908046, 'fraction_numerical': 0.003284072249589491, 'mean_word_length': 5.382198952879581, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
MI5’s Tradecraft Before the First World War

Tradecraft is the “how” of intelligence—the sources and methods that make the collection and analysis of intelligence possible. As British intelligence scholar Christopher Andrew has pointed out, “The tradecraft used by intelligence agencies tends to be thought of as the province of Bond and the spy novelist rather than the serious scholar.” However, as Kevin Quinlan demonstrates, “The most successful intelligence gathering has depended upon good tradecraft.” Thus, according to Andrew, “a powerful case [can be made] for giving much greater recognition to the role of tradecraft in assessing the past role and influence of intelligence agencies.” Much of the Security Service’s (MI5) tradecraft before the First World War has already been well covered in the literature, including cooperation with police chief constables, registration of enemy aliens, the Registry, postal interception, etc. A hitherto neglected yet crucial aspect of MI5’s tradecraft is its underlying principles. Denoted these days as its institutional doctrine, that term was not used in the pre–World War I era. Particular attention is here focused on several MI5 documents that were none defined