The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
As Tessa Dunlop says in her introduction, when she began to write Elizabeth and Philip, she did not expect the story to end so definitively with Queen Elizabeth’s death, despite her great age. The monarch had lost her husband of seventy-three years in 2021; he had...
Lawrence Freedman, what were there certain criteria you used to pick the conflicts that are in the book? The starting point was first that I was going to look at post 1945. So that was the big decision. There's lots of stuff written about command in the World Wars...
Bunkeya is the first ever instalment of A P Handley’s Danny Rook secret history series. In the genesis of this enthralling secret history, we are introduced to seventeen-year-old wonderkid, Danny Rook, who against his family's wishes, leaves his comfortable, albeit...
How the Russians See Themselves If you want to work out what your opponent is likely to do next, you need to understand how he sees himself. During the Cold War our judgement of Soviet behaviour was often distorted by prejudice, ignorance, and wishful thinking....
Roger, firstly, can you tell us a little bit about the origins of your latest book? Who were the forgers and how did you find out about their story? The forgers were a group of Polish diplomats and Jewish activists – known as the Ładoś Group – who were illegally...
Richard Greene, you have been appointed as the Director for the 24th Graham Greene International Festival. Can you tell us a bit about the festival and your role? The festival, taking place this year from September 28 – October 1, is a gathering of Graham Greene...
A P Handley, your last novel was Tabarin. I’ve never heard that word before. Where did you get the title? Well, as I understand it, before the war there was a night club in Paris with the same name, so although I pronounce my book ‘Tabar‑in’, I guess the French would...
Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about your latest spy novel, Queen & Country, and its protagonist, Charles Thoroughgood? This is now the seventh novel to feature the character. Your relationship with Charles has now lasted longer than most marriages,...
"The atomic clock ticked faster and faster. We may anticipate a state of affairs in which two great powers will each be in a position to put an end to the civilisation and life of the other, though not without risking its own. We may be likened to two scorpions in a...
Michael Smith, what first attracted you to the period you work in? I was in military intelligence before becoming a journalist in the 1980s, so I was acutely aware of how much the reporting of intelligence matters in that period was based on conspiracy theory rather...
