GCHQ is a famous British signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency perhaps best known for its work at Bletchley Park during WWII. The spy service decided to have its official history written – and chose a Canadian to do so!
In this episode, Borealis talks with John Ferris, a University of Calgary historian, who undertook the task.
About my guest John Ferris
John Ferris is a Professor of History at The University of Calgary, where he also is a Fellow at The Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. He received an MA (1980) and a PhD (1986) in War Studies, from King’s College, The University of London, United Kingdom.
He has published four books and sixty academic articles or chapters in books, on diplomatic, intelligence and military history, as well as contemporary strategy and intelligence. He comments in national and international media, on Canadian and American foreign and military policy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, intelligence, and nuclear weapons.
Behind the Enigma: The Authorized History of GCHQ, Britain’s Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency
The definitive history of GCHQ, one of the world’s most tight-lipped intelligence agencies, written with unprecedented access to classified archives.
For a hundred years GCHQ – Government Communications Headquarters – has been at the forefront of British secret statecraft. Born out of the need to support military operations in the First World War, and fought over ever since, today it is the UK’s biggest intelligece, security and cyber agency and a powerful tool of the British state.
About the host Phil Gurski
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Technology (SET) hub at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation.
From 1983 to 2001 he was employed as a senior multilingual analyst at Communications Security Establishment (CSE – Canada’s signals intelligence agency), specialising in the Middle East.
Find out more about Phil Gurski
What are we doing about hatred in society?
Episode 313 – Why can we not define hate speech more succinctly? As Taylor Swift – and no I am NOT a ‘Swiftie’ – once sang “Haters gotta hate”. Hate crimes certainly appear to be on the rise in many parts of the Western world and has a lot of people worried. Unfortunately, the definition…
The role of war gaming in national security
Episode 312 – National security is not a game, but can gaming help? Did you play Stratego or Risk as a kid? War games have a long history. Nowadays, modern militaries put a lot of time and money into war simulations. How do these work and what effect do they have? I talk with Rex…
A look at conflict hot zones in 2026
Episode 311 – What should the world worry about in the new year when it comes to conflict? That conflict is part of the human condition goes without saying. What is challenging is determining what kinds of information to rely on when thinking about ongoing conflicts. After all, there is a lot of disinformation and…
