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 …
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, …
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 …
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.
Women Suffragists who were nearly prosecuted under the Espionage Act in 1917 when they protested Woodrow Wilson in front of the White House.
Ok, get ready for the coolest spy concept ever - Astrospies!!! NOVA just aired a program about how the military was training pilots to orbit the earth and spy on Russia in the mid-1960's. It's a bit more hype than anything, the program never put anyone in space, but the idea is awesome.
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 …
Leon Theremin is known for the creation of the Theremin, the electrical instrument made famous in the 50's for it's eerie usage in the soundtracks of low budget sci-fi movies. However, what is not as well known is that he also functioned as a spy for Russia. Theramin became a bit of a celebrity in …