Historical Dictionary of British Intelligence

SHAYLER, DAVID• 485

kans while based in Belgrade and Bucharest. In 1941 he transferred

toCairoand worked in theYugoslav SectionofSpecial Operations

Executiveuntil 1944. He then later returned to SIS before resuming

his studies at University College, Oxford, and his subsequent ap-

pointment in 1951 as professor of Russian history at London Univer-

sity.

Seton-Watson’s first book,Eastern Europe between the Wars,

1918–1941, was published in 1945 and his own experience in Central

Europe provided much of the background for it and his second book,

The Eastern European Revolution. He acquired a formidable reputa-

tion as a scholar and concentrated on nationalism and Communism,

both topics inThe Pattern of Communist RevolutionandThe Decline

of Imperial Russia, 1855–1914. At the time of his death in December

1984 Seton-Watson was professor emeritus at the School of Slavonic

and Eastern European Studies at London University, as well as a fre-

quent lecturer in the United States.

SHAI.An abbreviation forSherut Yedlot, the Shai was the intelligence
branch of theHaganah, and its membership had been trained mainly
by theSecret Intelligence Serviceduring World War II to participate
instay-behind networksorganized from April 1941 in and around
Jerusalem. The Shai did not participate in terrorism, unlike theIrgun
or theStern Gang, but ran a very effective compartmented informa-
tion collection andcounterintelligenceagency that later formed the
basis of Mossad, founded by Isser Harel who had been trained by the
PalestinePolice (and later dismissed for insubordination).

SHAYLER, DAVID.David Shayler leftMI5in early 1997 after five
years in the service and engaged a literary agency to circulate a book
proposal to publishers, masquerading as a senior woman retiree who
had served inNorthern Ireland, but the proposal was turned down
because of the legal implications. Instead, he sold a long article to
theMail on Sunday, published at the end of July 1997. Further arti-
cles would have followed, except that the government obtained an
injunction to prevent further unauthorized disclosures and Princess
Diana was killed the following weekend, seizing the newspaper
headlines for weeks to follow.
Shayler fled to Paris to escape arrest and metRichard Tomlinson,