The Defence of the Realm revealed by Peter Wright decades before in Spycatcher), as well as noting how many of Wilson's MP's were spying for the Soviet bloc. The book's title was derived from MI5's Latin motto, "Regnum Defende". Historian Keith Jeffery was commissioned to write a similar authorised history on the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) for release in 2010. The book received generally positive reviews from major newspapers. "The Daily Telegraph" called it "magisterial, authoritative, balanced, readable ... full of wry humour and with an eye for the absurd", declaring that "MI5 could not have wanted a better historian than him. This book is
The Wright Brothers (book) McCullough recalled, "I didn't know when (chronologically) I was going to end that book, and who do I run into in France but the Wright brothers." He continued, "I was delighted to find that Wilbur, at every chance, went to the Louvre to look at paintings, and the degree that he was moved by the great Gothic works of France was far beyond that of an ordinary tourist. [...] Much of what has been written about the Wright brothers (in French) has been ignored. That's what pulled me into doing the book." McCullough has had a lifelong interest in aviation.