Avsnitt
-
Antonia Senior talks to acclaimed novelist Jane Thynne about her new book Midnight in Vienna. Set in London and Vienna in 1938 it follows a young unemployed English tutor called Stella Fry and a disgraced MI5 watcher called Harry Fox, as they unite to investigate the murder of a celebrated detective novelist.
We talk Nazis, the parallels between the 1930s and the present day, and, of course spies.
Buy the book here.
Follow Jane here.
Follow Spymasters on X at @spymasterspod
Follow Antonia Senior on X @tonisenior
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Antonia Senior interviews Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman about their fascinating new book Spycraft. What did it mean to be a spy in Early Modern England? What tips and tricks of the trade were employed against England's enemies?
And who was the mysterious 'Q' of the Elizabethan spy trade?
We talk secret ink, cyphers, and much more
Buy the book: https://amzn.eu/d/jj62Dzm
Follow the authors on x: @elegantfowl @Misswalsingham
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Saknas det avsnitt?
-
Spymasters meets Merle Nygate, the author of Honour Among Spies. The second in Merle's books about Eli Amiram, Mossad's top spy runner, it was a Times thriller of the month. Eli is now chief of Mossad's London operation. He needs an audacious coup to cement his position.
Merle and your host, Antonia Senior talk fiction, Mossad and the challenges to writing.
Buy the book: https://amzn.eu/d/iZGaR5b
Follow Merle: @MerleNygate https://merlenygate.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Hugh Wilford joins SpyMasters to talk about his brilliant new book: The CIA, An Imperial History. Hugh is Professor of United States History at California State University, and a leading expert on the history of the CIA.
His new book is a groundbreaking study of the history of the world's most famous intelligence agency. The book places the history of the CIA into a global context, in which the Cold War is a clash of empires.
We talk about the founders of the CIA, the rise of covert action, and the Agency's unique role in American history.
Buy the book: https://amzn.eu/d/0hpxkVpP
Let us know what you think on X: @spymasterspod
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Oliver Webb-Carter, the editor of Aspects of History, picks his top 5 books and his top 3 films about espionage. Some left-field options here from Oliver! Let us know what you think on X @spymasters
We talk about the new SpyMasters anthology of top spy writing.
And Ollie's picks:
RISE and Kill First, Ronan Bergman. Buy.
Operation Chiffon, Peter Taylor. Buy
The Sympathiser, Viet Thanh Nguyen Buy
Goldfinger, Ian Fleming. Buy
One Day in September, Simon Reeve. Buy
Films:
Zero Days
Living Daylights
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
In this episode, we talk to Roger Moorhouse, the acclaimed historian of Central and Eastern Europe. Roger's new book, The Forgers, is the fascinating story of how a group of Polish diplomats sought to save Jewish victims of the Holocaust by issuing false passports.
Roger's book also covers the subject of espionage and the holocaust, and how the brave agents of Polish intelligence sought to bring news of the horrific genocide to the outside world. This is the fascinating subject of this week's episode.
https://aspectsofhistory.com/spy-masters-podcasts/
Buy the book here: https://amzn.eu/d/01ZnlVLV
Follow Roger on X: @Roger_Moorhouse
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Top Spy novelist Alex gerlis joins Antonia Senior to talk about his new book, Every Spy a Traitor. The first in a new series, it follows the adventures of two British men who end up working for the NVKD in the run up to WW2.
We talk about the 1930s, the mindset of spies, and the perils of intricate, multi-book plots.
Buy the book: https://amzn.eu/d/fJMM8dx
More on Alex: https://alexgerlis.co.uk/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Top spy novelist Thomas Waugh talks to Antonia Senior about his trilogy featuring the reluctant spy Daniel Ambler. We talk Putin, oligarchs, publishing and more.....
Buy End Game here:
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
In the second of an epic two-part series about the espionage wars between East and West, top intelligence historian Calder Walton talks Putin, disinformation and the decline of the Soviet Union. We talk about how Putin, the former KGB officer, turned his former service into a private mafia army. We turn to the threat from China, whose intelligence gathering operation against the West is on a scale never seen before.
Buy Calder's book here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The first of two episodes with Dr Calder Walton. This one looks at the development of the intelligence war between the West and the Soviet Union from 1917, follows the story through the fulcrum period of the Second World War and pushes on into the intense espionage games of the Cold War.
Based at Harvard's Kennedy Business School, Calder Walton is one of the world's leading experts on intelligence and national security.
We talk about Marx, the Great Illegals and the Cambridge Five. We talk about a US administration which was riddled with spies. How did intelligence affect the Cold War? How crucial was Oleg Gordievsky?
Next time, we will be talking about espionage, Russia and the West, beyond the Cold War.
The conversation is an insight into Calder's brilliant, bestselling book. Just out in paperback, SPIES: The epic intelligence war between East and West, is a masterful and comprehensive look at the incredible story of Soviet and Western espionage. The West, Calder argues, has a long term Russia problem. Christopher Andrew called it 'a masterpiece'.
Buy Calder's book: https://amzn.eu/d/08N5KXb
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
-
What was it like to meet Anthony Blunt? How did the British Security Service try to stop Nigel West uncovering its secrets? And what qualities do you need to spend your career delving into the murky, shifting waters of intelligence?
Join Antonia Senior as she quizzes Nigel West about a lifetime writing about intelligence, and his brilliant memoir: Classified!: The Adventures of a Molehunter.
Buy the book here.
https://aspectsofhistory.com/spy-masters-podcasts/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
How did August revolutionise Roman intelligence? How connected was Caesar? What intelligence failures dogged the Roman republic?
All these questions answered and more by top novelist, Peter Tonkin.
Buy the the Caesar's Spies' omnibus here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Was SJ Parris's protagonist, Giordano Bruno, really a spy? What was his relationship with top Elizabethan spymaster Francis Walsingham?
To buy Alchemy, click here.
For more on SJ Parris, the pseudonym of writer and journalist Stephanie Merritt, click here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Former Director of the CIA, General David Petraeus, joins to talk about his book, Conflict, and the evolution of military intelligence. We talk about Iraq, Putin, Weapons of Mass destruction and AI.
General Petraeus Links:
Conflict: A Military History of the Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.
Spymaster links:
SpyMasterPod on X: @spymasterspod
Spymasters Website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Dr Helen Fry, bestselling intelligence historian, joins us to talk about Edith Cavell, the famous World War One nurse and spy. Was she an intelligence agent for the British? What happened to Edith? We discuss the remarkable courage of a true heroine, and the wider story of women's role in intelligence.
Dr Helen Fry's links: https://www.helen-fry.com/
Buy Women in Intelligence, here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Former CIA analyst turned bestselling writer David McCloskey joins to talk about his new novel. We talk about storytelling, the nature of modern espionage and how David made the leap from the CIA to novelist.
David McCloskey Links
Moscow X
Damascus Station
David on X
Antonia Senior Links
Antonia on X
Email Antonia: [email protected]
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
The podcast on espionage that brings you in from the cold. Episode One released Feb 1st with ex CIA office and bestselling novelist David McCloskey, author of Damascus Station and Moscow X.
SpyMasters is a new podcast from the team at Aspects of History. Every fortnight we will cover a story from the shadow lands of espionage. Fact and fiction, historical and contemporary, we will be talking to the best writers, established and emerging talents alike, about their books and worlds of spies and intelligence.
Early episodes include Francis Walsingham’s spying monk with S.J. Parris, the spy networks which uncovered the holocaust with Roger Moorhouse, and the incredible story of Edith Cavell, uncovered in the archives by acclaimed historian, Helen Fry.
The new podcast is hosted by journalist, writer and Aspects of History board member, Antonia Senior. Antonia studied intelligence history under Christopher Andrew at Cambridge University, and hoped to get the tap on the shoulder. It never came. Instead, Antonia became an award-winning journalist and author of several novels. She is currently writing a book on the Cambridge Five spy ring, due for publication in 2025.
Antonia can be found on X @Tonisenior
We have no intention of keeping SpyMasters a closely guarded secret. Do please follow us on X @SpyMastersPod and spread the word. We will be grateful for any and all support. Should you be an author, with a relevant new or backlist title, interested in appearing on the podcast do get in touch at [email protected]
Please understand that we will not be able to oblige all requests.
Thank you, and good night.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices