I’m taking a break, but will be back in October.
Thanks!
Spy Write
Reviews and news on spy fiction and nonfiction
Chicago’s Spy – Spy Story of the Week
Who knew that Chicago was such a hot bed of intrigue? This story from 1977 in the Chicago Reader brought it to light.
The article tells the story of how the CIA used (uses?) legitimate companies to provide a cover for CIA agents in other countries. In return these companies received lucrative contracts from the government. It’s an interesting read and insight into the how the CIA did business in the 60′s and 70′s.
Spy Site of the Week
For anyone interested in up to date information on the bleeding edge of spying in the modern world, Wired’s Danger Room blog is a must-visit site.
Several times a day the Wired reporters post stories on how modern technology is influencing both military and espionage objectives. As politicians become ever more gun shy about real people being put in situations where they can be captured, injured, turned or otherwise put in compromising positions, it will become easier and easier to place the heavy lifting of espionage in the hands of blameless computers.
Reporting like this is crucial if the public is going to keep track of what their government is up to in the name of national security.
Your private army
When you think of spies, you think of people out on the edge with a network of people waiting to provide support when something goes wrong.
As a civilian, going to countries that are in volatile regions and the possibility of terrorism is high, most people don’t have that luxury of knowing that someone is there to watch their back. However, in this modern world of corporate spies and military contractors, if you have the money to spend, you to can have a team waiting to fly to your rescue when you get into trouble.
Global Rescue is a company that provides worldwide medical transport out of dangerous places back to the United States and if unrest breaks out in the place you’re visiting they’ll send ex-Special Forces soldiers in to pull you out.
The rates for Medical and Security rescue are actually pretty reasonable for a short term visit starting at $225.
More Confederate Spies
I recently read “Manhunt” by James Swanson and it was great. One of the interesting points that he discusses is how at the time of Lincoln’s assassination, the war had barely ended and the idea that his death could have been ordered by the Confederates leaders was not out of the question. Add to that the fact that D.C. was still swarming with spies and on high alert and it’s amazing there wasn’t more chaos after Lincoln’s assassination.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Trailer
The trailer for the film of LeCarre’s famous novel is coming out in September and here’s the first trailer. The cast is great and it looks like they’ve captured the really captured that cold war atmosphere. I’m very cautiously optimistic on this one.
Golden Spies
This is a must read from the Washington Post. Two former female OSS spies from the 1940′s meet up in the same retirement community almost 70 years later.
If there isn’t a writer working on a Golden Girls-like spy sitcom, they should get started right away.
However, even though these ladies were called “Donovan’s Girl’s” they did real spy work and weren’t just glorified secretary’s.
One of the ladies, Elizabeth MacIntosh, became Deputy Chief of CounterIntelligence and the other wrote two books on her time in the CIA, “Undercover Girl” and “Sisterhood of Spies.”
The Google Spy
The latest twist in the spy game? Using Google to pass secret messages. At least that’s what the brain’s at Warsaw University in Poland have come up with.
They have a team that tries to come up with new ways to distribute secret messages, otherwise known as steganography. I know, I’d never heard of it either.
The details sound pretty farfetched, you load a program and see secret codes pop up in the google results that pop up as you type in your search term, but it just proves that there are many, many ways to pass information now. Here’s the link to the full story at New Scientist Magazine.
Taking a break…
Taking a break for a bit. Will return soon!
Spies and Freedom – Spy Place of the Week
Working with the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., the Constitution Center in Philidelphia, PA is running the exhibit – Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America
