Christmas Must Buy Books

The Black Spy Podcast 224, Season 23, Episode 0004

This week's Black Spy Podcast sees host Carlton King step away from headlines and hard geopolitics to offer listeners something more seasonal – a carefully curated list of books he believes make powerful, thought-provoking Christmas stocking fillers, each chosen for its ability to inform, challenge and inspire.

At the heart of the episode is Carlton's own memoir, Black Ops – The Incredible True Story of a (Black) British Secret Agent, which he frames not as self-promotion, but as an essential corrective to the narrow way British intelligence history is usually told. From there, the discussion broadens into history, politics, race, psychology and power. Titles such as Der Unvergessene Krieg and Winston Churchill's Young Winston are explored as windows into how wars are remembered, mythologised and used to shape national identity.

Carlton places particular emphasis on works that reclaim obscured histories, including Great Men of Colour by Joel Rogers, UNESCO's monumental History of Africa, They Came Before the Mayflower by Dr Ivan Van Sertima, and Black Athena by Martin Bernal. Together, these books challenge Eurocentric narratives and ask listeners to rethink who is written into – and out of – world history.

The episode also highlights contemporary relevance through Male Menopause – The Hidden Crisis by Dr Rachel Taylor and Carlton King, linking mental health, masculinity and social silence, while Rupert Alison's The Branch offers insight into the often-misunderstood machinery of British intelligence.

To close, Carlton turns to dystopian classics – George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World – arguing they are no longer warnings about the future, but commentaries on the present. He rounds off by recommending the enduring moral clarity found in the works of Charles Dickens.

It's an episode that treats books not as escapism, but as tools for awakening – perfect gifts for curious minds.

So, please get informed and don't miss these discussions by subscribing to the Black Spy Podcast for free, so you never miss another fascinating episode.

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To read Carlton's Autobiography:

"Black Ops – The incredible true story of a (Black) British secret agent"

Click the link below:

https://amzn.eu/d/fmzzq9h

To read:

Male Menopause the hidden crisis

By Dr. Rachel Taylor & Carlton King

Search ISBN-13 : 979-8276993768