How MI6 and the CIA were involved in the death of Princess Diana Jon King and John Beveridge New York: SPI Books, 2002, £18.95 In the five years since the Paris car crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, and Henri Paul, interest in Diana herself may have waned, (1) but the circumstances surrounding her … Read more
[PDF file]: The Shadow Man: At the Heart of the Cambridge Spy Circle Geoff Andrews London: I B Tauris, 2016, £20, h/b This is a revelatory book that, in its own quiet, understated way, is likely to send shock waves through the historiography of British Communism. Geoff Andrews is the author of the disappointing last volume […]
[PDF file]: A Spy Alone Charles Beaumont London: Canelo, 2023, £9.99 (p/b) Robin Ramsay This is only the second novel I have reviewed in Lobster.1 The cover and the author blurb tells us that author Beaumont is a ‘former MI6 operative’. ‘Operative’? Why not ‘officer’? The author tells me the word was chosen by the publisher. […]
[…] may breach European privacy legislation and the European Commission is investigating four possible breaches of European law (Europe to Investigate Legality of RIP, 27/10/00, www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/14288.html and Net Spy Act may be Illegal, Independent 5/11/00, www.independent.co.uk/news/Digital/Update/ 2000-11/spy051100.shtml) A public consultation on the draft Codes of Practice (on Interception of Communications, Covert Surveillance and the use […]
The clandestine world of surveillance, spying and intelligence from ancient times to the post 9/11 world Ernest Volkman London: Carlton, 2007, h/b, £20 This is a lavishly and creatively illustrated, large format, (i.e. slightly bigger than A4) glossy paper, coffee-table book on the history of espionage. A former journalist with Newsday, and author of … Read more
[…] later made to look like a suicide to prevent political and diplomatic turmoil.’ Also mentioned by Baker is one Mai Pederson, a US Army sergeant and alleged spy, who formed a close friendship with Kelly and introduced him to the Baha’i faith.(24) She found claims that he committed suicide difficult to accept. ‘I told […]
[…] ARNOLD-FOSTER, MARK B 16.4.20 1939-45 ROYAL NAVY 1946 DEMOBBED LT 1948 BLOCKADED IN BERLIN 1954 ADMITTED (G 4.2.80) THAT HE HAD WORKED FOR BRITISH INTELLIGENCE, SMUGGLED A SPY INTO SOVIET UNION. JOURNALIST. LATER GUARDIAN DIPLOMATIC EDITOR ARRAN, LORD ARTHUR KATTENDYKE STRANGE DAVID ARCHIBALD GORE B 5.7.10, D 23.2.83 BALLIOL COLL OXFORD 1939 ATTACHE BERNE […]
[…] over to the other side, returning to the U.S. as a spook of two masters — in the manner of Magnus Pym, the hero of A Perfect Spy. The Le Carre angle is plausibly presented — Russell relies not only on secondary sources but also on his personal interviews with assassination-linked figures such as […]
