In the Highest Degree Odious: Detention Without Trial in Wartime Britain

During the Second World War, just under two thousand British citizens were detained without charge, trial, or term set, under Regulation 18B of the wartime Defence Regulations. Most of these detentions took place in the summer of 1940, soon after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, when belief in the existence of a dangerous Fifth Column was widespread. Churchill, at first an enthusiast for vigorous use of the powers of executive detention, later came to lament the use of a power which was, in his words, `in the highest degree odious'. This book provides the first comprehensive study of Regulation 18B and its precursor in the First World War, Regulation 14B. Based on extensive use of primary sources, it describes the complex history of wartime executive detention: the purposes which it served, the administrative procedures and safeguards employed, the conflicts between the Home Office and the Security Service which surrounded its use, the part played by individuals, by Parliament, and by the courts in restraining abuse of executive power, and the effect of detention upon the lives of individuals concerned, very few of whom constituted any threat to national security. Much of what was done was kept secret at the time, and even today the authorities continue to refuse access to many of the papers which have escaped deliberate destruction. This study is the first to attempt to penetrate the veil of secrecy and tell the story of the gravest invasion of civil liberty which has occurred in Britain this century.

About the Author :
A. W. Brian Simpson, Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law, University of Michigan

Review :
"An impressive work of scholarship. At once enlightening and disturbing, it is a highly original and very significant addition to the history of Great Britain during World War II." --American Journal of Legal History "This is a detailed and eloquent historical sketch that makes compelling reading." --Public Law "An admirable history of this instrument of constitutional dictatorship." --American Historical Review "Brian Simpson's book is a great achievement, a work of prodigious scholarship, [and] carries great authority because of the detail without which it would have had to rely on generalizations, inevitably open to critical scepticism. The value of his book lies in his analysis and in his insights." ---Journal of Law and Society "Because of the importance of its subject and because Simpson has done so well in supporting his thesis of the untrustworthiness of both elected officials and civil servants, this book deserves a wide audience." --Choice "An impressive work of scholarship. At once enlightening and disturbing, it is a highly original and very significant addition to the history of Great Britain during World War II." --American Journal of Legal History "This is a detailed and eloquent historical sketch that makes compelling reading." --Public Law "An admirable history of this instrument of constitutional dictatorship." --American Historical Review