Agent of Influence is a slim book at 83 pages, but one with significant effect. Author Jeremy Duns works his subtitled topic, “Antony Terry and the Shaping of Cold War Fact and Fiction”, weaving an utterly fascinating behind-the-curtain story I didn’t want to end. Duns, tell me this self-published edition is merely you dipping a toe...
My recent viewing of the film The Good Shepherd and my reading of the CIA History Staff's 2007 critique of the film left me curious about the fact behind the Hollywood fiction. Hitting upon a recommendation from that analysis and the film's archived website, I bought a book that had been sitting for months already...
The more observant of you will have noticed that we recently sailed past our 50th episode of the Spybrary Spy Podcast! I really had no idea if Spybrary had any legs when I started up a spy podcast so I am delighted listeners keep coming back for more. Apparently the majority of podcasts do not...
Having heard Shane interview author Michael Brady on the show nearly a year ago, Into The Shadows: The Fever has long been on my radar. It wasn't until Spy-Con this past spring that I finally acquired a copy of the novel in question and only in the last couple of weeks that I've had the...
I am quite fond of the saying that “truth is stranger than fiction.” As those of us who read spy fact (and those fiction works which blur the boundaries between the two) know, it is often the case. The film The Good Shepherd, directed by Robert De Niro and released by Universal Pictures in...
Coming up in the next few weeks on the Spybrary Spy Podcast We celebrate Episode 50 with the man who kicked it all off on Episode 1 – Rob Mallows from Deighton Dossier. (Brief episode where we talk about the Berlin meet up and read a special message sent to...
Transmission received from Spybrarian Matthew Kresal: Review of The Little Drummer Girl by John le Carre. One of the familiar tropes of the spy genre is an intelligence agency recruiting a civilian into an operation. In fact, one might even say it's become a cliche at this point. So perhaps it comes as something of...
Follow in the steps of Bernard Samson – Len Deighton Meetup – Berlin Update: Listen to a special message that Len Deighton has sent us on Episode 50 of the Spybrary Spy Podcast! Rob Mallows from the Deighton Dossier returns to the show to talk with Spybrary Spy Podcast host Shane Whaley. We talk through...
Chances are, if you're reading this blog post, you're a podcast listener. Non-fiction podcasts such as Spybrary aren't the only things out there though. The rise of the podcast has also led to a renaissance in audio drama, the medium of sound and story formerly seen as being on the brink of extinction. One of...
Some films seem to stand the test of time. Not only are they popular on release but they find new audiences throughout the decades that follow. Where Eagles Dare, first released fifty years ago this year, is one such example. Starring the perhaps unlikely mix of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, this mix of spy...
