Are spies useless? A Hack’s Progress

Robin Ramsay

A Hack’s Progress Phillip Knightley Jonathan Cape, 1997, £17.99 This is a highly enjoyable and very well written memoir by one of our senior investigative journalists. As a young-Aussie-leaves-home-and-sees-the-world tale this is nearly as entertaining as the celebrated Clive James version (and with fewer forced jokes). Any journalist’s memoirs are welcome: it’s always interesting to ... Read more

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21 Mar

"In the widely conspiratorial US response to Covid, Kendzior sees an 'epidemic of disillusionment and distrust that stretches into paralysis'."

John Newsinger reviews Sarah Kendzior's "THEY KNEW: How a culture of conspiracy keeps America complacent."

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/88/they-knew-how-a-culture-of-conspiracy-keep-america-complacent-by-sarah-kendzior/

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21 Mar

"MacShane is obsessed with Blair, waxing lyrical about his hands, which are 'handsome and expressive, splaying his fingers out and sometimes working them into a fist to make a point'."

John Newsinger reviews the 1997-2001 diaries of Dennis MacShane.

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/88/labour-takes-power-the-denis-macshane-diaries/

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21 Mar

"Very good, nicely written, and gripping. What's really interesting is Sharman's comments about the 'Londongrad laundromat' for Russian money and consequent Russian influence on British political life"

Robin Ramsay, on Charles Beamonts's "A Spy Alone"

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/88/a-spy-alone-by-charles-beaumont/

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22 Jan

"The trail goes from Common Cause, with CIA money, into IRIS, with anti-communists and information from IRD and MI5. IRIS runs through to the mid-1970s and ends up working with Brian Crozier."

Robin Ramsay, in "The Clandestine Caucus: A minor update"

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/88/the-clandestine-caucus-a-minor-update/