David Stafford, John Murray, London, 1997, £25 Any book dealing with Winston Churchill must situate itself within one of two rival camps. On the one hand, there are the Churchillians, who regard him as one of the great men of the twentieth century, who dominates modern times and deserves personal credit for having saved Britain … Read more
Covert Action CAIB trundles on. I haven’t always agreed with CAIB’s line. With others on the U.S. left, it used to seem reluctant to deal with the real nature of the Soviet Union. Having got to he point where America has become Amerika, many American radicals have been unable to acknowledge that the other Superpower … Read more
Books Secret Contenders Melvin Beck (Sheridan Square Publications, US 1984) The CIA Christmas party of 1958 found 48 year old all-American boy, Melvin Beck, getting the offer of overseas work with Clandestine Services. He “struck like a hungry bass” and landed in Havana in 1959, just as the first Russian freighter was arriving. Fairly early … Read more
Jeffrey M. Bale In this essay, and the notes and sources that accompany it, there are many words from languages – French, Spanish, Portugese etc – which should have various accents on them. These accents have been omitted to simplify type-setting. This essay was first published in the Berkeley Journal of Sociology and is reprinted … Read more
The story in The Guardian of 12 November, ‘Diplomat’s “slave” can stay in UK’, was the tip of an iceberg. The story concerned the allegations made that a Sudanese diplomat had kept a ‘slave’ in London. Allegations of slavery in the Sudan have been made – and denied – for years. (A summary of the … Read more
Richard Griffiths Constable, 1998. Ten years ago this would have been a publishing sensation. Griffiths, the great expert on the British right and their fellow travellers, has found the membership list of the Right Club – a group active in 1939/1940 seeking to coordinate the work of all the patriotic societies. This book is his … Read more
The Diana inquest – the people’s verdict? Well we now know who didn’t do it. It wasn’t the Royals. Not that they and their associates don’t have past form when it comes to helping family members into the next world. George V was given a fatal injection on his deathbed in order that news of … Read more
Welcome to Lobster, the journal that looks at the impact of the intelligence and security services on history and politics. From espionage to dirty tricks to conspiracy theories. What else is in Lobster? Check out the keywords in the box in the sidebar, right. Lobster issues 58 and onwards are free. Earlier issues of Lobster … Read more
by Peter Padfield Papermac, London, 1993, £12.99 There are now several versions of the Hess affair. One is the official story – a politician whose star is one the wane, attempts a spectacular comeback, fails, is locked up for forty years and finally commits suicide in despair. Another is the double theory, first outlined in … Read more
A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency Richard Helms and William Hood (New York: Random House, 2003) The Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby John Prados Oxford University Press: Cary [North Carolina], 2003 The Man Who Kept the Secrets Thomas Powers (New York: Knopf: 1979) Honorable … Read more
