I’ve always been fascinated with the history of the cold war spy novel. I had previously considered Atomsk, released in 1949 and written by Carmichael Smith, the first but it appears to only be the first US Cold War novel. The UK’s Humphrey Slater wrote Conspirator and beat Atomsk by a year. Conspirator follows a …
Continue reading Conspirator by Humphrey Slater – The first Cold War novel?
After being teased by Nick Harkaway, one of le Carré's sons, during book events surrounding the release of Silverview we now have additional details on a book of John le Carré/David Cornwell correspondence. The book, currently titled A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré, 1945-2020, has a UK release date of November 3rd, …
With all the disruption of this past year, things have been a bit quieter on the site than normal. I’ve been focusing on podcasts over some of my longer written pieces which has taken a healthy chunk of time. That said, the year did have some highlights and in what is becoming a yearly tradition …
In 1964, just after The Spy Who Came in from the Cold came out, Mademoiselle Magazine ran a mystery issue and asked Rex Stout to interview the newly famous author John le Carré.
Rarely am I shocked while reading a book, but this was the exception. As I perused my latest purchase, a binded transcript of a speech John le Carré gave at John Hopkins University in 1986 titled The Clandestine Muse, I had a shocking revelation. John le Carré had won Blistex lip balm’s 1985 “Most Beautiful …
Continue reading Secret Lip Services – The honor John le Carré doesn’t want you to know about
My regular posts have been a bit more sporadic of late as I've been working on a couple of special projects. First was hosting a two part podcast panel on Spybrary looking at Adam Hall's famous spy creation - Quiller. This resulted in a fair bit of research as I reread a bunch of the …
There are a few different versions of the Moscow Rules, the term that refers to how a spy should handle themselves behind enemy lines. I like this version I found on a postcard in the International Spy Museum.
Although it is not the first place you would think of having a spy pedigree - Chicago, Illinois - smack dab in the middle of the United States, does have a few notable spy connections. Over the next two posts I will discuss some of the real and fictional spies we’ve seen in Chicago. True …
We conclude our interview with Toby Manning on his book John le Carré and the Cold War. Find part one here. When you’re done reading my interview listen to the Spybrary podcast interview with Toby Manning. Spy Write: It seems that le Carré's post-Cold War work may have been what muddied the waters regarding the “otherness” …
Continue reading Interview with Toby Manning on John le Carré and the Cold War – Part Two
Finding books that John le Carré has recommended, contributed to or written introductions/forewords to has become something of a passion project for me. In the process of doing this research I came upon its flip side - the fake le Carré blurb scandal. Back in 1991 a writer named Derek Van Arman was involved in a …
I"m back with another addition to my growing list of books le Carré has recommended or blurbed. Catch up with my previous posts - Part one Part two Here are the new additions - The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham-Smith - JlC review - "I’m not sure why I returned to this classic account of one …
Last year I put together a short list of some of my favorite things from the past year. I’ve done it again and here they are in no particular order - A Divided Spy by Charles Cumming - This one is a little selfish. I won a auction to have my name appear in the …
This past summer I was able to take a road trip to Washington D.C. and while there visited the International Spy Museum. Open since 2002, it's one of the few museums dedicated to espionage. It's set to move to a new, bigger location in early 2018 so this is a last look at the museum's …
If you are a spy fan and you are in London, odds are you will want to take a spy tour. I was able to take advantage of many of the ones I found during my recent trip there and wanted to offer a list of the various options. I didn't take a bad one, …
In honor of publication week for A Legacy of Spies I've collected a "best of" list of some of my le Carré posts. I also recommend reading Matthew Bradford's great series of posts looking back at the Smiley series book by book. First, here's my spoiler free review of the new book, A Legacy of …
Over the past few years I've become much more knowledgeable on book collecting then I ever thought I would. As I've fallen down the rabbit hole of collecting books, I've picked up a few tricks and secrets I thought I'd pass along. Please use them for good and not evil. Tip # 1 - Choose …
The first rule of Spy Club. Don't talk about Spy Club. 12 men received the invitation. On an unseasonably cool afternoon at the end of June they made their way across England to a back room of the Savoy Hotel. They came singly or in pairs, pushing through the wooden revolving doors and strolling anonymously …
The Illinois Holocaust Museum is hosting another traveling spy-themed exhibit following up on its successful hosting several years ago of Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs. This new exhibit, Operation Finale, is focused on the secret plan to kidnap Adolf Eichmann and bring to him to Israel for trial. Eichmann was one of the officers responsible for …
We finish our discussion with Robert Lance Snyder in advance of the release of his new book, John le Carré's Post-Cold War Fiction. Read part one here. Read part two here. Jeff Quest: I’ve been working on a list of books recommended by le Carré and as a result reading many of the introductions he …
Continue reading John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Fiction – Robert Lance Snyder Interview Part Three
We continue our discussion with Robert Lance Snyder in advance of the release of his new book, John le Carré's Post-Cold War Fiction. Read part one here. Jeff Quest: Le Carré has managed to stay relevant in a way that his other contemporaries still writing, like Frederick Forsyth or Charles McCarry, haven’t. McCarry in particular released a book …
Continue reading John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Fiction – Robert Lance Snyder Interview Part Two
I am pleased to welcome to the blog Dr. Robert Lance Snyder. Dr. Snyder has written the upcoming book John le Carré's Post-Cold War Fiction. I haven't read his book yet, but he has previously written The Art of Indirection in British Espionage Fiction and edited the spy fiction of Paradoxa, both of which I've …
Continue reading John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Fiction – Robert Lance Snyder Interview Part One
You've read all of John le Carré’s novels, short stories, opinion columns, letters to the editor, his biography and autobiography. Before you go back to the beginning and start all over, you want to try something different. What to do? Read books le Carré has recommended of course! Le Carré is very deliberate in what …
For more on John le Carré click here. I highlighted the first lines from Eric Ambler's novels a few weeks back and in honor of John le Carré's newest release, The Pigeon Tunnel, I thought it would be interesting to look at his first lines and whether any changes or trends could be discovered. Hard …
Eric Ambler's "lost" novel
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 …
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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhFKgpr1oDs 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 …
Does it get any better than Computer Animated news on spies? I didn't think so. The news came out through another cable that Wikileaks has released. As discussed in this full story at the Telegraph, Japan has had no spy agency since WWII.
Recently Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a former member of the KGB, cracked a spy joke
Women Suffragists who were nearly prosecuted under the Espionage Act in 1917 when they protested Woodrow Wilson in front of the White House.
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the State Department’s security arm and is responsible for the safety of all U.S. diplomatic workers and any visiting foreign dignitaries. Ghost: Confessions of a Counter-Terrorism Agent, the true story of Burton’s time working on the Counter-Terrorism team for the DS, is riveting reading.
The largest espionage case in the US was the Duquesne spy ring. Led by Fritz Duquesne who despised the British and became a spy for Germany in both World Wars I and II, the ring was caught and prosecuted by the FBI in 1941. Interestingly they were found guilty on December 13th, 1941. I would …
Following up on a quick look at Union spies, here is Belle Boyd a spy for the Confederacy. She was captured on suspicion of spying three separate times and died after the war in Wisconsin Dells, WI. More at Wikipedia.
Following up on the this weeks site of the week, this is a letter from George Washington to a member of the Culper Ring his collection of spies against the British. This letter was captured by the British and never made it to it's intended recipient.
This site, organized by the Clements Library of the University of Michigan, is a collection of letters to and for American and British Spies in the Revolutionary war. It's fascinating to see the actual letters that went back and forth between folks spying in the Revolutionary War and some of the history behind them. It …
Continue reading Revolutionary War Spies – Spy Website of the Week
In my internet travels I stumbled on this site, The Literature of Intelligence, dedicated to nonfiction books and articles on the Intelligence business. I've only just begun to scratch the surface of what is found there but the depth of information collected is pretty extraordinary. Being organized by a former member of the CIA turned …
Continue reading Intelligence bibliography – Spy Website of the Week
NPR's Talk of the Nation in 2005 had a interesting interview with a number of former CIA workers that have written spy related fiction and nonfiction. It's well worth a listen - NPR Talk of the Nation - Spy Writers
In just another example of how much things have changed since the Cold War, the US government is looking to pass a law to make it easier to collect information on people using the internet. The software programs these plans are aimed at relate to sites that offer encryption or allow peer to peer traffic. …
Continue reading The Spies want to be your Facebook Friend – Spy Story of the Week
A pretty widely reproduced picture of Lincoln with Allan Pinkerton. Pinkerton is well known for his founding of the Pinkerton Detectives, but he was also a crucial part of the Union military as head of the Union Intelligence Division. He's also one of the few civilian members of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. More …
When looking for great spy related websites, MI5's seems an obvious spot, but I'd like to focus on one particular part of their website this week. Under their section entitled "What we do" you can review a the different jobs available and see a log of their daily activities. If you are looking for a …
It's been determined that a Russian spy, Sergei Tretyakov, who defected to the US several years ago died while choking on a piece of meat. Ouch, what a way for a spy to go. His book with Pete Earley, Comrade J, is a must read for anyone interested in espionage in modern Russia. Read more …
The Department of Defense is attempting to block publication of the book Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan by Anthony Shaffer, a former agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency. The book had been vetted by the Army Reserves but apparently has still has some sensitive information included. Full story …
Continue reading DOD suppresses spy book – Spy News Story of the Week – 9/10/2010