The authors along with 70 plus former 1950s national service Naval conscripts reveal how they learned Russian, spied on the Soviet military and shed light on the East-West conflict. Acclaimed dramatist and author ALAN BENNETT supplies the foreword.Everyone has heard of oral history; this may be the first ever email history. Nearly all the personal recollections were sent electronically. They recount the hazards of selection for the Navy; hilarious incidents in basic training; the perils of life at sea; grappling with a very foreign language leavened by films, novels and songs; training in top secret radio eavesdropping techniques; monitoring Soviet ships and planes exercising in the Baltic and North Seas; broadcasting to Russia or illuminating British readers, listeners and TV viewers about developments in the USSR.