One of my biggest revelations as a member of the Spybrary Facebook group was discovering the works of Ted Allbeury. Allbeury, a man who not only could claim to be a former intelligence agent but lived a colorful, was a bestseller in his day, spoken of in the same breath as Len Deighton or John le Carre. Following his 2005 passing, he has drifted into the background, though his works have begun … [Read more...] about The Kresal Dossier: The Lantern Network
Cold War
Betrayal in Berlin. With Author Steve Vogel
Betrayal in Berlin with author Steve Vogel On Episode 90 of the Spybrary Podcast, host Shane Whaley interviews Steve Vogel the author of Betrayal in Berlin - The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation. Betrayal in Berlin is one of the best Cold War non-fiction espionage books I have read. For me, Mr. Vogel is up there with Ben Macintyre. Sometimes, I had to stop and … [Read more...] about Betrayal in Berlin. With Author Steve Vogel
The Kresal Dossier – The Russian Engima
One of the joys of listening to and being involved with the community around the Spybrary podcast has been discovering books I might never have heard of otherwise. Clive Egleton's The Russian Enigma (aka Pandora's Box) is just such an example of that, having been posted about by C.G. Faulkner whom I had the pleasure of meeting (alongside other Spybrarians) at last spring's Spy-Con. Though it took … [Read more...] about The Kresal Dossier – The Russian Engima
The Kresal Dossier: Doctor Who – Endgame
Philby. Burgess. Maclean. If you're a student of Cold War spies (and if you're at Spybrary there's a decent chance you are), those names will be very familiar. The latter pair's 1951 defection helped to make public the most famous spy scandal of the era. In the decades since, they've also inspired countless works of fiction on page and screen. One of the more unusual comes from the realm of … [Read more...] about The Kresal Dossier: Doctor Who – Endgame
‘The Very Best Men’ Of The CIA’s Early Years
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 on my Amazon wishlist. Published in 1995 with an updated preface in 2006, Evan … [Read more...] about ‘The Very Best Men’ Of The CIA’s Early Years
Review Of The Good Shepherd (2006)
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 2006, would seem to be such an example on the surface. It is true that the film had the tagline … [Read more...] about Review Of The Good Shepherd (2006)
Cold War Spies & Time Travel: ars Paradoxica
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 the more intriguing pieces to come out of that has a distinctive spy fiction flavor to … [Read more...] about Cold War Spies & Time Travel: ars Paradoxica