About - THE SOE, COVERT ACTION, AND THE BRITISH CULTURAL IMAGINARY

Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) was created to ‘set Europe ablaze’ during the Second World War. Pioneering techniques of sabotage and subversion, it left a legacy of fame and controversy in equal measure. Running from 2023-27, this project brings together expertise from literary studies and twentieth century British history to analyse the complex ways in which the SOE has shaped public perceptions of covert action. Putting archival analysis into dialogue with memoirs, fiction, film, oral history, and digital games, we will shed new light on the history of the SOE itself and its continued influence over debates in political, military, cultural, and historical spheres.