Dead Drop 5 on the Spybrary Spy Podcast with Ian Sanders
Are you ready for our second installment of DEAD DROP 5?
Today’s guest is no stranger to East Germany. He is deep under cover, embedded in Communist East Berlin, he has asked his SIS handler to leave him 5 of his favorite spy books in their dead drop location in the Friedrichshain park.
Ian Sanders of the Manchester Military History Society has been reading spy books for many years and has written almost 400 reviews on military,cold war and espionage books on goodreads. Today he is going to whittle those 400 books down to just a handful ….this is DEAD DROP FIVE on the Spybrary Spy Podcast.
Ian's Dead Drop 5 picks are:
- Riddle of the Sands – Erskine Childers
- Leaving Berlin – Joseph Kanon
- Memoirs of a Spymaster – Markus Wolf and Ann McEvoy
- Operation Whisper: The Capture of Soviet Spies Morris and Lona Cohen – Barnes Carr
- Zoo Station Adventures in East and West Berlin – Ian Walker
Listen to episode 28 of the Spybrary Spy Podcast and hear why Ian chose these 5 books to be stashed in his dead drop.
Bonus
Spybrary Host Shane Whaley could not resist asking Ian about his experiences visiting Berlin in the 80s. Ian tells us what it was like to cross into the German Democratic Republic (he made that trip 5 times) and he shares his impressions of traveling through the infamous Berlin ‘Ghost' Stations.
You can follow Ian at
Manchester Military History Society on Twitter
You can also chat with Ian on the Facebook Spybrary Group. If you enjoyed todays’s conversation on the Spybrary Spy Podcast with Shane Whaley, you are going to love the discussions and debates we have over on our Spybrary Listeners Discussion group – join here
Books and other items of interest mentioned on this episode of the Spybrary Spy Podcast
Inside the Forgotten Ghost Stations of a once Divided Berlin – Photos/report from Atlas Obscura
Short video documentary on the Berlin Ghost Stations of East Germany
WatchTower at Potsdamer Platz History and Info (Insider Tip – this is well worth a visit and is tucked behind the German Spy Museum in Berlin.)
Remembering Radio Berlin International
Beyond the Wall – Memoirs of an East and West German Spy – Werner Stiller
Riddle of the Sands – Erskine Childers
The Riddle of the Sands – Movie Trailer
The Secret Agent's Bedside Reader : A Compendium of Spy Writing – Michael Smith
Leaving Berlin – Joseph Kanon
Man Without A Face – Markus Wolf
Profile of Markus Wolf, The Independent 1993
Markus Wolf, East German Spymaster, dies at 83. NY Times Obituary
Oleg Gordievsky – KGB Colonel who worked for the British in London
Otto John – new light shed on legendary Cold War double defector
Otto John Obituary -The Independent
Gabriele Gast (top West German Spy who was working for the German Democratic Republic)
Kim Philby giving a lecture to the Stasi in East Berlin. Can you spot Markus Wolf?
Operation Whisper: The Capture of Soviet Spies Morris and Lona Cohen – Barnes Carr
Morris Cohen, 84, Soviet Spy who passed Atom plans in 40's Obituary
84 Charing Cross Road -Helene Hanff
The Same Sky – Netflix Drama – The fates of two families become intertwined when an East German “Romeo” agent on assignment seduces a woman on the other side of the Berlin Wall.
Zoo Station Adventures in East and West Berlin – Ian Walker
This is out of print, there are some very expensive copies on Amazon, I found a cheap copy on Ebay.
Trailer for Atomic Blonde, set in Berlin 1989.
Stasi Child Series – David Young
Trinity Six – Charles Cumming
C J Sampson – Winter in Madrid
Amazing escape from East Berlin by microlight!
Another excellent episode.
Spybrary is such a good idea and Shane does an amazing job hosting and animating it.
Thanks to this particular broadcast, I’ve ordered ‘The Secret Agent’s Bedside Reader’ and previous casts lead to me purchasing the complete ‘Sandbaggers’ DVD (something I’d watched back in the day but enjoyed much more this time around) – old dogs can learn new tricks !
Ian’s selections were also very interesting. I’ve read ‘Riddle Of The Sands’ and would concur that Joseph Kanon is excellent. The rest I’ll look into. It is just so great listening to like minded individuals give their insights.
A much needed service after the demise of the serious book critic.
Can’t wait for the next one.
Regards,
David
C J Sampson’s other later Tutor/early Elizabethan England have elements of “spy” action.