Gerard Russell
Inside the Shadow Theatre
Why Spy? The Art of Intelligence
By Brian T W Stewart & Samantha Newbery
Hurst 216pp £25
My first year in the Foreign Office, in the days before email, was a deluge of papers: thin, white-coloured memos from other government departments, propelled across Whitehall through Victorian vacuum tubes; letters from MPs, engraved with a portcullis, demanding answers; stiff, pale-blue documents that had the scrawl of a minister across them, approving or rejecting whatever speech or meeting or diplomatic manoeuvre we had most recently recommended.
Most dramatic of all, though, were those that came in coloured folders marked ‘Secret’. These were attended with particular ceremony: handed from person to person, never left unguarded, and often read with particular care. They, being reports from the Secret Intelligence Service, were my introduction to the particular mystique that surrounds anything to do with spying.
The mystique is partly due to the human love of uncovering secrets. From the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who only allowed his students to meet him face to face after they had proved their discretion through five years of silence, to the bloggers who today accuse the Bilderberg Group of covertly
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
Russia’s recent efforts to destabilise the Baltic states have increased enthusiasm for the EU in these places. With Euroscepticism growing in countries like France and Germany, @owenmatth wonders whether Europe’s salvation will come from its periphery.
Owen Matthews - Sea of Troubles
Owen Matthews: Sea of Troubles - Baltic: The Future of Europe by Oliver Moody
literaryreview.co.uk
Many laptop workers will find Vincenzo Latronico’s PERFECTION sends shivers of uncomfortable recognition down their spine. I wrote about why for @Lit_Review
https://literaryreview.co.uk/hashtag-living
An insightful review by @DanielB89913888 of In Covid’s Wake (Macedo & Lee, @PrincetonUPress).
Paraphrasing: left-leaning authors critique the Covid response using right-wing arguments. A fascinating read.
via @Lit_Review