Simon Conway talks to SpyMasters about The British Agent, Afghanistan, conspiracy, Chuff, bomb disposal, US politics...

THE BRITISH AGENT: A SPY ALONE. AN ENEMY WITHIN.

A veteran American spymaster weaving an elaborate web.

A politician who makes a high-stakes promise he can’t keep.

A clutch of sophisticated air defence missiles stolen in Ukraine.

A terrorist cell with plans to commit an outrage in the US capital.

And, at the centre of it all, a British agent, operating alone and undercover, on a desperate, globe-trotting mission to prevent catastrophe.

She cannot fail . . .

Recommends: EJ SWIFT When There Are Wolves Again

Mention Michael Idov Collaborators, James Wolff Spies and Other Gods.

Paul Burke is Editor of Aspects of Crime. His first book Spies on Screen will be published later this year.

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Charles Cumming talks to Paul Burke about his new novel Icarus 17, latest in the Box 88 series, The Day of the Jackal, A Spy by Nature, Thomas Kell, Geopolitics in the novel, post-Cold War spy fiction dip, touring Eastern Europe before The Wall fell, Plane and not meeting Jason Statham.

Icarus 17: As director of covert intelligence agency Box 88, Lachlan Kite is at the apex of his espionage career. But when Martha Raine – a woman he hasn’t seen in twenty years – begs for his help, Kite finds himself back in the game, racing to avert disaster. Kite must find Martha’s son, Max, who vanished in Athens with his girlfriend, Yasmine. But the couple aren’t just missing, they’re running for their lives. Two rival agencies are hunting them, both with orders to kill on sight. Max and Yasmine are carrying a dizzying secret, one which could pull apart the foundations of the Middle East for a generation. If Kite fails to save them, the costs – both personal and professional – will be catastrophic.

Charles Cumming is a British writer of spy fiction. Educated at Eton and the University of Edinburgh where he graduatednwith 1st Class Honours in English Literature. The Observer has described him as "the best of the new generation of British spy writers who are taking over where John le Carré and Len Deighton left off". In 1995, Charles Cumming was approached for recruitment by the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). A Spy By Nature, a novel partly based on his experiences with MI6, was published in 2001. The novel's hero, Alec Milius, is a flawed loner in his early 20s who is recruited by MI6 to sell doctored research data on oil exploration in the Caspian Sea to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In 2001, Charles Cumming moved to Madrid. His second novel, The Hidden Man, came out in 2003. The Spanish Game, 2006, Typhoon, 2008, The Trinity Six, 2011.

Recommended: Bruce Chatwin, Martin Amis, John Cheever, Philip

Paul Burke is the editor of Aspects of Crime and the presenter

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Johan Wennström talks to Paul Burke about The Stay Behinds: Sweden's Cold War Guardians.

The Stay Behinds: Packed with first-hand accounts and previously classified government documents, this book reveals the secrets of Sweden's resistance network, created to deter a potential Soviet occupation.Following World War II, Sweden faced the looming threat of the Soviet Union and its drive to spread communism. This led to the formation of a resistance movement involving Sweden's intelligence service, the employers' association and the labour movement. The stay-behind network was fully legalised in 1955 and continued its clandestine work until the mid-1990s, with the mission of keeping communism – and the Soviets – out of Sweden.
Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews with key figures, author Johan Wennström peels back the layers of secrecy surrounding the stay-behinds. This book looks at the men who created the network, the work the operatives carried out, the cell-like structure they relied on, and how the US and UK intelligence communities cooperated with the Swedish stay-behinds. This is the first in-depth study of a secret organization that helped shape modern Sweden. It also highlights lessons for today's NATO and makes the case for a defence policy grounded in national interest.

Forthcoming Audio The Stay Behinds Spotify.com

Johan Wennström:  is a research fellow at the Swedish Defence University and an occasional contributor to UnHerd. He is one of Sweden's most prominent commentators on alliance politics and European security.

Paul Burke is the presenter of Spymasters. His first book Spies on Screen will be published later this year.

Produced by Junkyarddog

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Former FBI Director JAMES COMEY talks to Paul Burke about his novel RED VERDICT, The FBI, being a socially adept introvert, Russian operations in America, the inspiration for Nora and Benny and The Kansas City Massacre.

RED VERDICT THE MURDER OF THE YEAR. THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY.
An influential defense company executive sits down for dinner at an exclusive restaurant in Manhattan. It's the last meal he will ever eat.
The food was spiked with Novichok in a hit that suggests Russian involvement. It sends a chilling message to the FBI – but what, exactly? And why kill this man now?
Deputy US Attorney Nora Carleton launches a criminal investigation into the most dangerous individuals she has ever faced, putting herself and her family in the crosshairs of forces determined to keep their secrets buried.
If she can't land a guilty verdict, she risks losing more than her life – the security of the entire country will be compromised.

James Comey served as the seventh Director of the FBI, from 2013 until May 9, 2017, when he was fired by Donald Trump. A Yonkers, New York native, Jim Comey attended the College of William and Mary and the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, Comey returned to New York and joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. There, he took on numerous crimes, most notably organized crime in the case of the United States v. John Gambino, et al. Afterwards, Comey became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he handled the high-profile case that followed the 1996 terrorist attack on the U.S. military’s Khobar Towers in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Comey returned to New York after 9/11 to become the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. At the end of 2003, he was tapped to be the Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ) under then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and moved to the Washington, D.C. area.

Comey left DOJ in 2005 to serve as General Counsel and Senior Vice President at defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Five years later, he joined Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut-based investment fund, as its General Counsel. In early 2013, Comey became a Lecturer in Law, a Senior Research Scholar, and Hertog Fellow in National Security Law at Columbia Law School. After he was fired as FBI Director, Comey held the King Lecture Chair in Public Policy at Howard University for 2017-18 and served as a Distinguished Lecturer in Public Policy at William and Mary for 2018-2019. In September 2020, his first book, "A Higher Loyalty," was made into a Showtime limited series, "The Comey Rule."

Recommended Ann Patchett The Patron Saint of Liars

Paul Burke is the presenter of Spymasters. His first book Spies on Screen will be published later this year.

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Andrew Rosenheim talks about his contemporary spy thriller The Interpreter's Secret, AI in publishing, kindle, literary games on the page, cat and mouse chases.

The Interpreter's Secret: in Stockholm for a G20 summit, the interpreter Thomas Weaver is summoned by the White House Chief of Staff to an off-the-record meeting with a Russian general. Expecting routine diplomacy, what Weaver gets instead is a chilling glimpse into a secret arrangement between Washington and the Kremlin. Warned never to divulge what has been said, Weaver discovers he has accidentally recorded the meeting – the only evidence that it took place. Now under threat, he escapes to the safety of a friend’s house in the English countryside, and then on to London. Yet even there he senses danger. Unsure where to turn, Weaver finds unexpected help from the enigmatic Lily Churchill, whose own loyalties are a mystery. As the two begin to grasp the significance of what Weaver has heard, he and Lily are forced to go underground to hide from their unknown pursuers, who seem determined to silence Weaver for good. The Interpreter’s Secret is a sophisticated literary thriller about corruption, conspiracy, and the lethal confusions of language.

Mentions: Alan Parks Gunner, James Dickey, John le Carré, JAMES WOLFF SPIES AND OTHER GODS

Paul Burke is the editor of Aspects of Crime. His first book Spies on Screen will be published later this year.

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Daria Santini talks to Spymasters about her biography of Edith Tudor Hart, A Woman Called Edith, the Cambridge Five, Arnold Deutsch, photography, working class lives, communism and spying.

Edith Tudor Hart has long evaded biographers. A Jewish-Austrian exile in 1930s London, she was a talented professional photographer, anti-fascist activist—and Soviet secret agent.
Daria Santini provides the first full biography of this elusive figure. She traces Tudor Hart’s life from her early years in the socialist intellectual circles of Vienna through her training at the Bauhaus to her work as a Soviet agent in Britain. Tudor Hart played a vital role in the Cambridge Spies network, including recruiting Kim Philby. Throughout her life, Tudor Hart was deeply committed to the ideals of communism. But despite being watched by the British Secret Service for decades, she was never caught and never confessed.
In this moving account, Santini pieces together the story of Edith’s life, revealing a woman of great energy, determination, and creativity

Edith Tudor Hart: In the Shadow of Tyranny (Duncan Forbes), Poverty for Sale.

Edith Tudor Hart: A Steady Eye in Turbulent Times by Brigette and Kurt Kaindl.

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Michael Idov talks to Spymasters about his new novel THE CORMORANT HUNT, screenwriting, The Collaborators, Doug Lyman, geopolitics and the spy novel and walking back the cat.

THE CORMORANT HUNT: Disheartened CIA officer Ari Falk, now hiding in the Republic of Georgia, is hailed as a hero by some and branded a traitor by others after blowing the lid off a massive conspiracy. But his quiet exile is shattered when a mission arises―one perfectly suited for someone as jaded and unpredictable as him.
This stand-alone sequel thrusts us into a modern era of geopolitical conflict, where a hot war in Europe and shadowy political schemes set the stage for danger at every turn. Enter Asha Tamaskar, a brilliant, neurodivergent CIA officer with her own secrets, and Felix Burnham, a chilling antagonist with radical alliances that could change the global balance of power. From Tbilisi to Prague, Andorra to Bethesda, Idov crafts vivid, authentic settings that amplify the pulse-pounding action.
Far from the usual spy thriller, The Cormorant Hunt is brimming with razor-sharp dialogue, heart-stopping twists, and complex character dynamics that bring humanity to the chaos. Every border crossed carries real-world consequences, making this a thriller that feels both urgent and unforgettable. Blending suspense, wit, and authentic storytelling, it’s a must-read for fans of political intrigue, espionage, and thrillers that don’t play by the rules.

Paul Burke is the editor of Aspects of Crime and the presenter of Spymasters. His first book SPIES ON SCREEN will be published on 24th September.

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Piers Blofeld talks to Spymasters about his new book on Anthony Blunt, MASTER OF LIES, the greatest traitor, working for Churchill and Stalin, Operation Market Garden, a not-confession confession, enjoying the limelight of discovery.

MASTER OF LIES: In a brilliant feat of literary detective work Master of Lies tells the extraordinary untold story of Anthony Blunt's life as a spy. Based on extensive research into newly released files he is revealed as not simply "the fourth man", but the most dangerous spy of the twentieth century.
During the war, as the fate of the world hung in the balance, Blunt's intelligence was being fed straight on to the desks of Hitler, Stalin and Churchill. His hand was secretly guiding our collective fate and his treason led to the deaths of tens of thousands. He casts a shadow which looms large to this day.
The official narrative is that Blunt was the least of the Cambridge spies - and yet he was the one who got away with it. While the rest drank themselves to death in dingy Moscow flats, Blunt revelled in his brilliant career as an art historian, Surveyor of the Queen's pictures and Knight of the Realm. He was protected not just by his many friendships with the great and the good, but by the brilliance with which he played the game - his was a secret too big to be told.
Master of Lies reads like the best spy fiction but it solves one of the great espionage mysteries of our times.

Piers Blofeld is a literary agent and, apart from a brief stint as a story consultant in the video games industry he has worked in publishing for the whole of his career. A regular commentator on the mysteries of the book business he has had his own column in Writing Magazine for the last five years. Born and bred in Norfolk, his surname made it all but inevitable he would nurture a fascination with supervillainy and spying. Master of Lies is his first book.

Recommended Anthony Glees The Secrets of the Service

Paul Burke is editor of Aspects of Crime. His first book Spies on Screen From Silent to Streaming will be published in September.

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STALIN'S APOSTLES: The Cambridge Five and the making of the Soviet Empire, Part 2. From MacLean and Burgess' defection to today, research, new sources,

The Cambridge Five are surrounded by myth. It was time for a new sober and revealing history of the most deadly spy ring ever. Paul Burke talks to Antonia Senior about her new thrilling account of Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt & Cairncross:

STALIN'S APOSTLES is a radical new look at the way five people allowed their obsession with Communist ideology to overshadow any sense of morality or decency - or loyalty to their country. Why did these gilded charming men, blessed with brains, and beauty and opportunities, choose to betray their country?
Using recently declassified files, STALIN'S APOSTLES explores as never before the treachery of Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, John Cairncross and Keeper of the Queen's Pictures Anthony Blunt, all radicalised while at Cambridge University in the 1930s. Their clandestine supply of British and US intelligence material gave Stalin an inside track on US and British decision-making until the implosion of the spy-ring in May 1951. There was barely a secret, barely a decision made, that Stalin did not know about, thanks to his Cambridge spies, and his networks in the United States. The Five became tools in Stalin's imperial scheme, responsible directly and indirectly for the death of thousands of men and women fighting against Soviet domination.
Shielded for so long by the British Establishment, four of the five were never prosecuted for their crimes. As STALIN'S APOSTLES reveals, they were exposed as much by their own incompetence as by forensic investigation by the CIA, MI5 or MI6. And in time another dictator emerged as ruthless as Stalin, but with an even greater desire to establish a Russian Empire that would threaten Western democracy. The legacy of the Cambridge Five is not only in the graveyards of eastern Europe, but at the heart of Putin's Kremlin.

Paul Burke is the new presenter of Spymasters and editor of Aspects of Crime. His first book Spies on Screen: From Silent to Streaming will be published in September.

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The Cambridge Five are surrounded by myth. It was time for a new sober and revealing history of the most deadly spy ring ever. Paul Burke talks to Antonia Senior about her new thrilling account of Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt & Cairncross:

STALIN'S APOSTLES is a radical new look at the way five people allowed their obsession with Communist ideology to overshadow any sense of morality or decency - or loyalty to their country. Why did these gilded charming men, blessed with brains, and beauty and opportunities, choose to betray their country?
Using recently declassified files, STALIN'S APOSTLES explores as never before the treachery of Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, John Cairncross and Keeper of the Queen's Pictures Anthony Blunt, all radicalised while at Cambridge University in the 1930s. Their clandestine supply of British and US intelligence material gave Stalin an inside track on US and British decision-making until the implosion of the spy-ring in May 1951. There was barely a secret, barely a decision made, that Stalin did not know about, thanks to his Cambridge spies, and his networks in the United States. The Five became tools in Stalin's imperial scheme, responsible directly and indirectly for the death of thousands of men and women fighting against Soviet domination.
Shielded for so long by the British Establishment, four of the five were never prosecuted for their crimes. As STALIN'S APOSTLES reveals, they were exposed as much by their own incompetence as by forensic investigation by the CIA, MI5 or MI6. And in time another dictator emerged as ruthless as Stalin, but with an even greater desire to establish a Russian Empire that would threaten Western democracy. The legacy of the Cambridge Five is not only in the graveyards of eastern Europe, but at the heart of Putin's Kremlin.

Paul Burke is the new presenter of Spymasters and editor of Aspects of Crime. His first book Spies on Screen: From Silent to Streaming will be published in September.

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