John Starnes has had a long career in External Affairs and as director-general of the RCMP Security Service. He is also the author of five spy novels.

Closely Guarded is a personal narrative of Starnes’ years in intelligence circles from the Second World War to the early 1970s. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which chronicles the author’s life in intelligence from 1939 to1945, mainly through extensive quotes from letters he wrote to his wife. Part two takes the story up to 1969 through the heyday of External Affairs, the establishment of the United Nations, and the Six Day War. The last part is set against the backdrop of the October Crisis and the McDonald and Keable inquiries. Comprehensive appendixes of relevant documents round out the story.

There are some good anecdotes in here and the extensive use of letters and contemporary documents give them an immediacy, especially in part one, which has some vivid evocations of wartime Britain. Unfortunately, this technique also breaks up the flow of the narrative and does not allow Starnes to use his novelist’s talents (he admits to finding non-fiction writing more difficult than he had thought). Perhaps because it is only one person’s tale and the author sticks closely to documented sources, the reader is required to have a considerable amount of background knowledge in a wide variety of subjects and historical settings. Without that background, many of the tales, though well written, seem incomplete.

For those with the necessary background, Starnes’ contribution will be interesting and will help fill in gaps in a history that is, by its very nature, murky. However, the general reader without a particular interest in the history of Canada’s security activities may find the lists of the author’s colleagues and the rather dry quotes a little daunting.