News

Intelligence Book of the Year Award

June 14, 2012

Over the years St. Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster has hosted many a spook. During World War Two, Special Operations Executive (SOE) used part of the hotel for their first headquarters. The Security Service (MI5) occupied the top two floors (storing high explosives there!) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) had a training section there too. […]

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Russian Suburban Spies FBI Footage

November 3, 2011

Following the release of video’s taken by the FBI of the Russian suburban spies, I was interviewed by ITN and asked to comment on the old fashioned techniques used by the spies to pass on information to their spymasters. Take a look at the video and you will see some footage of these exchanges and […]

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The Art of Betrayal : Review

October 20, 2010

Irecently appeared on Epilogue on PressTV along with Annie Machon, the former MI5 officer, to discuss the book: The Art of Betrayal, written by Gordon Corera.

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SOE Codemaster Leo Mark’s poem for Violette Szabo

July 26, 2010

In my lecture ‘Spies in High Heels’,  I quote the following poem issued to Violette Szabo by Leo Marks as a code to encrypt messages. Violette Bushell Szabo (26 June, 1921 – c. 5 February, 1945) was recruited by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). While serving for them Violette went into France twice. On […]

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The Defective Defectors

July 20, 2010

The question of whether or not the Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri defected to the US is interesting but not unique. (This article first appeared in The Guardian on 15 July 2010) Shahram Amiri the Iranian nuclear scientist “defector” has been welcomed back to Tehran from the US like a returning hero. He claims he […]

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Radio Interview on the Russian Spy Network

July 12, 2010

This is a recording I participated in on 8th July on Global Journalist Radio, a half-hour weekly discussion of international news with participation by a panel of journalists from throughout the world. The moderator is Prof. Stuart H. Loory, Lee Hills – Chair in Free-Press Studies at the Missouri School of Journalism. The guests included […]

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KGB Recycling?

August 20, 2009

The Brompton Oratory in Knightsbridge is the site of a notorious KGB ‘Dead Letter Box’. Used during the Cold War for KGB agents to leave their secret messages to be collected later by their KGB controllers. Yesterday Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, the intelligence analyst, was showing a visitor the site next to the Pieta statue, just inside […]

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Death of Alexander Litvinenko

December 1, 2006

An interview on MSNBC about the death of my friend Alexander Litvinenko. (This interview is no longer available from MSNBC)

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