spies

Too in thrall to today’s dogmas: ITV1’s A Spy Among Friends reviewed

15 July 2023 9:00 am

In 2014, Ben Macintyre presented a BBC2 documentary based on his book A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the…

Can we brainwash our enemies?

6 April 2023 4:49 am

Disinformation is on the rise, and Britain’s spies are on the back foot. Our intelligence leaders warn about election meddling,…

Russian spies and the return of the Cold War

18 August 2021 8:01 am

Last week’s arrest of a security guard employed at the British embassy in Berlin, on suspicion of spying for Russia,…

The best Cold War thriller I've seen that I fully understand: The Courier reviewed

14 August 2021 9:00 am

The Courier is a Cold War spy thriller and the prospect of a Cold War spy thriller always makes my…

Tom Hiddlestone is The Night Manager

BBC1’s The Night Manager verges on parody

27 February 2016 9:00 am

The Night Manager (BBC1, Sunday) announced its intentions immediately, when the opening credits lovingly combined weapons and luxury items. ‘Blimey,’…

We trust our spies. But we shouldn’t trust this bill

14 November 2015 9:00 am

Were David Cameron in any way adept at spin, it would be tempting to think that the publication of the…

The spying game: Ben Whishaw as Danny in ‘London Spy’

James Delingpole cringes at London Spy’s gay sex scenes

14 November 2015 9:00 am

The main problem with being a TV critic, I’ve noticed over the years, is that you have to watch so…

Are we all potential cyberterrorists now?

29 October 2015 9:00 am

Hollywood got there first, of course. Back in 1983, before most of us even learned — then forgot again —…

Bletchley Park was decades ahead of Silicon Valley. So what happened?

25 July 2015 9:00 am

Gordon Corera, best known as the security correspondent for BBC News, somehow finds time to write authoritative, well-researched and readable…

From slaves' rectums to porn vids, there are few places people haven't tried to conceal secret messages

19 July 2014 9:00 am

John Gerard, a Jesuit priest immured in the Tower of London in 1597, and tortured by being hung from manacles…

Illustration, from World War I in Cartoons, Mark Bryant, Grub Street.

The completely ludicrous – and sometimes believable – world of the First World War spook

12 July 2014 9:00 am

There can’t have been this many books about the first world war since — just after the first world war.…

‘A public urinal where ministers and officials queued up to leak’

22 March 2014 9:00 am

Anyone brought up as I was in a Daily Express household in the 1950s — there were approaching 11 million…

Russian Roulette, by Giles Milton - review

31 August 2013 9:00 am

Had Onan not spilled his seed upon the ground, he might have invented invisible ink. The possibility had not occurred…