Adrian Turpin
Dodgy Dossier
An Officer and a Spy
By Robert Harris
Hutchinson 496pp £18.99
‘It is a déformation professionnelle: all spymasters go mad in the end,’ observes the hero of Robert Harris’s An Officer and a Spy, in what is clearly a warning from history. No dossier was ever as dodgy as that used in 1894 to convict Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason; a barefaced collection of dud forensics and outright forgeries, it was never presented in open court for reasons of ‘national security’.
Dreyfus’s supposed deception was to pass military secrets, not even particularly important ones, to the Germans. His true crime was to be a wealthy Jew with financial interests in Germany during a period when paranoia about France’s old foe was at its peak and a xenophobic press operated unchecked.
Exiled to Devil’s Island, off the coast of French Guiana, the captain faced a punishment that was medieval in its cruelty. Deprived of human company, sometimes shackled to his bed, and confined behind a palisade that stopped him even seeing the sea, his sole outlet seems to have been his
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Are iPhones ruining children's lives? A prominent American psychologist thinks so.
@tiffanyjenkins is not so sure:
Tiffany Jenkins - The Smartphone Pandemic
Tiffany Jenkins: The Smartphone Pandemic - The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an...
literaryreview.co.uk
India's 'festival of democracy', or general election, begins next month. Like every good festival, it looks likely to have its fair share of murders and arrests.
@OwenBennettJon probes the state of democracy in India:
Owen Bennett-Jones - New Delhi Confidential
Owen Bennett-Jones: New Delhi Confidential - The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India by Alpa Shah
literaryreview.co.uk
Where is the world's newest narcostate and why is it thriving?
@AdamBrookesWord investigates Asia's meth mecca.
Adam Brookes - Meth Comes to Myanmar
Adam Brookes: Meth Comes to Myanmar - Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Outwitted the CIA by Patrick Winn
literaryreview.co.uk