The Intelligent Spy’s Handbook Spies and Writers, Writers and Spies, and the Contribution of British Spies to English Literature
Few professions comprise such an eclectic mix of personalities as that of intelligence. The characteristics required to thrive as a spy – ideological conviction, ego, the ability to manipulate, deceive and remain cold – have created some of the most compelling and enduring figures in history.
In The Intelligent Spy’s Handbook, Robin Renwick provides an overview of the biggest names in the world of espionage, with a wonderful eye for the details that bring each of them to life. We hear, for instance, of how Kim Philby, to have fun at the expense of his colleagues, kept a photograph in his office of Mount Ararat – taken from the Soviet side. We see how the audacious, far-fetched ideas of the naval officer Ian Fleming, aside from creating the most famous of all spies, may have actually inspired the real-life Operation Mincemeat. And the darker side of some of our more heroic stories is exposed, from the chemical castration of Alan Turing to the personal sacrifices Oleg Gordievsky made to become Britain’s most successful Soviet mole.
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a first-time reader, this book is the perfect primer on the best-known individuals in the history of intelligence.
Reviews
“Brilliantly weaves together spy fiction and the real art of espionage”
Sir John Sawers, former head of SIS (MI6)
“Ian Fleming would have mightily enjoyed this”
Adam Fleming
“A rattlingly good tale”
Sir Patrick Fairweather, former diplomat and ex SIS
“I very much enjoyed this”
Admiral Dennis Blair, former US Director of National Intelligence
“Wonderfully readable”
Kate Grimond, née Fleming
“An unmissable read about the great literary spymasters”
André Pienaar, CEO of G5 Cybersecurity
“[An] irresistible page-turner”
Anonymous current member of SIS
“A reminder that spying on our enemies, as well as very necessary, can be fun”
Keith Craig, former diplomat and SIS
“Thoroughly enjoyable, with a new theme and lots of new angles”
George Walden, former diplomat, instrumental in the 1971 expulsion from Britain of 105 Soviet spies
“A cracking good read”
Christopher James, former CEO of Hakluyt and ex SIS
“The Brits attach special importance to the intelligence business and have proved pretty good at it, having led the way in signals intelligence in two world wars.”
Richard Helms, former director of the CIA
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Buy this book
- Hardback, 272 pages
- ISBN: 9781785909023
- 10 September 2024
- £20.00
- eBook
- ISBN: 9781785909382
- 10 September 2024
- £14.99