The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
In your new book Every Spy a Traitor you move away from a World War II/Post War setting and focus purely on a ‘Cold War’ with the Soviet Union in the 1930s. What was it that attracted you to the period? I liked the idea of a series that covered a longer time span,...
Those readers of the same vintage as I am may remember Dick Barton, Special Agent, the television programme at least, if not the original radio series. The iconic music from that series was playing in my head whilst I was reading Alec Marsh’s Ghosts of the West,...
On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3 September 1939, Parliament immediately passed The National Service (Armed Forces) Act. All men aged between 18 and 41 were required to register for service. My grandfather John James Doherty ‘JJ’, a talented linguist,...
Seizing Eichmann He was walking down the street clutching a large bouquet of flowers, a smiling family man by the name of Ricardo Klement. He was looking forward to celebrating his silver wedding anniversary that evening. When he reached his house on Garibaldi Street...
You’ve written about the major events of the 20th century, such as WW2 and the Cold War – the attraction of the period of history, or do go for character and plot first? They are closely allied! However, it wasn’t until I was a parent myself that I began to reflect on...
A Fun Night at the Opera Their voices reached to the back of the auditorium - and probably into other theatres. One wonders if plastic cups are given out because glass might shatter. Opera Locos is a blast - full of sound and fast and furious comedy. It's a romp...
At a time when the UK is at war by proxy – providing intelligence, weapons and training to Ukraine – and relying on Article Five of the NATO treaty for our own security, this is a most timely book. The author, Sten Renning, is a Danish professor who has been a student...
Russian spies have moved into cyberspace. Their digital fingerprint is on the 2016 American elections, and all over the cultural wars. They find existing cracks in Western discourse, around Brexit or Black Lives Matter, for example, and seek to rip them still wider....
When rehearsals began for Casse Noisette, Theodore Frost couldn’t help thinking that Marie le Sansonnet would be a much better Mouse King than Sugar Plum Fairy. All that rushing around, thinking herself royalty, demanding hot drinks sweetened with sugar that certainly...
NATO was established in 1949, very much as a bulwark against the Eastern Bloc. Does it still have relevance today? Yes, NATO remains the alliance through which the United States upholds the vision of a Europe “whole and free.” America’s power of extended deterrence...
