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To Catch a Spy: How the Spycatcher Affair Brought MI5 in from the Cold
The Spycatcher affair remains one of the most intriguing moments in the history of British intelligence and a pivotal point in the public's relationship with the murky world of espionage and security. It lifted the lid on alleged Soviet infiltration of British services and revealed a culture of law-breaking, bugging and burgling. But how much do we know about the story behind the scandal?
In To Catch a Spy, Tim Tate reveals the astonishing true story of the British government's attempts to silence whistleblower Peter Wright and hide the truth about Britain's intelligence services and political elites. It's a story of state-sanctioned cover-up plots; of the government lying to Parliament and courts around the world; and of stories leaked with the intention to mislead and deceive.
This is a tale of high treason and low farce. Drawing on thousands of pages of previously unpublished court transcripts, the contents of secret British government files, and original interviews with many of the key players in the Spycatcher trials, it draws back the curtain on a hidden world. A world where spies, politicians and Britain's most senior civil servants conspired to ride roughshod over the law, prevented the public from hearing about their actions and mounted a cynical conspiracy to deceive the world. It is the story of Peter Wright's ruthless and often lawless obsession to uncover Russian spies, both real and imagined, his belated determination to reveal the truth and the lengths to which the British government would go to silence him.
In To Catch a Spy, Tim Tate reveals the astonishing true story of the British government's attempts to silence whistleblower Peter Wright and hide the truth about Britain's intelligence services and political elites. It's a story of state-sanctioned cover-up plots; of the government lying to Parliament and courts around the world; and of stories leaked with the intention to mislead and deceive.
This is a tale of high treason and low farce. Drawing on thousands of pages of previously unpublished court transcripts, the contents of secret British government files, and original interviews with many of the key players in the Spycatcher trials, it draws back the curtain on a hidden world. A world where spies, politicians and Britain's most senior civil servants conspired to ride roughshod over the law, prevented the public from hearing about their actions and mounted a cynical conspiracy to deceive the world. It is the story of Peter Wright's ruthless and often lawless obsession to uncover Russian spies, both real and imagined, his belated determination to reveal the truth and the lengths to which the British government would go to silence him.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
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First published August 15, 2024
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About the author
Tim Tate
26 books58 followersTim Tate is a multiple award-winning British documentary film-maker and bestselling author.
His films - mostly investigative, always campaigning - have been honoured by Amnesty International, the Royal Television Society, UNESCO, The Association for International Broadcasting, The International Documentary Association, the New York Festivals and the US National Academy of Cable Programming. He often speaks at international conferences and university seminars.
He is also the author of fifteen published non-fiction books. These include the best-selling "Slave Girl" which told the true story of a young British woman sex-trafficked to Amsterdam; "Girls With Balls" which uncovered the secret history of women's football; "Hitler's Forgotten Children", which tells the extraordinary and harrowing story of a woman who was part of the Nazi Lebensborn programme to create an Aryan master race; and "Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders" which reveals long-suppressed evidence showing that Peter Sutcliffe killed 23 more victims.
His 2017, "Pride", tells the extraordinary true story behind the hit movie of the same name. In 1984,in the depths of the bitterly-fought miners' strike, a group of very cosmopolitan London gay men and women made common cause with the very traditional communities of a remote south Wales valley - and helped keep its mining families alive at at a time when the British government was trying to starve them into submission.
His latest book - The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Crime, Conspiracy and Cover-Up (Thistle Publishing) is the result of 25 years investigation by Tim and his co-author, former CNN journalist Brad Johnson. It presents detailed forensic, ballistic and eyewitness testimony showing that the convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, could not have shot Kennedy. It reveals that Los Angeles Police disregarded and then suppressed clear evidence of a conspiracy behind the assassination and makes a compelling case for a new official inquiry.
His films - mostly investigative, always campaigning - have been honoured by Amnesty International, the Royal Television Society, UNESCO, The Association for International Broadcasting, The International Documentary Association, the New York Festivals and the US National Academy of Cable Programming. He often speaks at international conferences and university seminars.
He is also the author of fifteen published non-fiction books. These include the best-selling "Slave Girl" which told the true story of a young British woman sex-trafficked to Amsterdam; "Girls With Balls" which uncovered the secret history of women's football; "Hitler's Forgotten Children", which tells the extraordinary and harrowing story of a woman who was part of the Nazi Lebensborn programme to create an Aryan master race; and "Yorkshire Ripper - The Secret Murders" which reveals long-suppressed evidence showing that Peter Sutcliffe killed 23 more victims.
His 2017, "Pride", tells the extraordinary true story behind the hit movie of the same name. In 1984,in the depths of the bitterly-fought miners' strike, a group of very cosmopolitan London gay men and women made common cause with the very traditional communities of a remote south Wales valley - and helped keep its mining families alive at at a time when the British government was trying to starve them into submission.
His latest book - The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Crime, Conspiracy and Cover-Up (Thistle Publishing) is the result of 25 years investigation by Tim and his co-author, former CNN journalist Brad Johnson. It presents detailed forensic, ballistic and eyewitness testimony showing that the convicted assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, could not have shot Kennedy. It reveals that Los Angeles Police disregarded and then suppressed clear evidence of a conspiracy behind the assassination and makes a compelling case for a new official inquiry.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 27, 2025
This is definitely a valuable companion piece to Wright's "Spycatcher".
I got my copy of "Spycatcher" as soon as I could when it hit the shelves here Australia - it is well worn and much read. So to say that I was eager to get my hands on Tate's book with its updated (and newly released) documentation pertaining to the court case to prevent the publication of "Spycatcher" would be an understatement.
It is a meticulously researched and documented account of the "Spycatcher" court case, of its author, Peter Wright, and of the UK governments attempts to keep the long hidden secrets of the British secret service, long hidden still. As mentioned, recently released archived documents have supplemented this work, meaning that much written directly after the original case, has been fleshed out and given context, and in some instances, superseded (and not to the detriment of the original authors).
Tate compared the UK government's attempts to silence Wright to Lewis Carroll's "Hunting of the Snark" - a pointless and uniquely British farce! And this sums things up quite well.
This book, in addition to refreshing my memory of the case (causing me more than once to glance at my copy of "Spycatcher" on my bookshelves) and also reminded me that the counsel for the defence (ie: Malcolm Turnbull) later wrote a book on the trial, titled "The Spycatcher Trial", and rose to become Australia's 29th Prime Minister.
This is definitely one for those interested in the history of the British secret service and of the "Spycatcher" case. One I will be adding to my own library.
I got my copy of "Spycatcher" as soon as I could when it hit the shelves here Australia - it is well worn and much read. So to say that I was eager to get my hands on Tate's book with its updated (and newly released) documentation pertaining to the court case to prevent the publication of "Spycatcher" would be an understatement.
It is a meticulously researched and documented account of the "Spycatcher" court case, of its author, Peter Wright, and of the UK governments attempts to keep the long hidden secrets of the British secret service, long hidden still. As mentioned, recently released archived documents have supplemented this work, meaning that much written directly after the original case, has been fleshed out and given context, and in some instances, superseded (and not to the detriment of the original authors).
Tate compared the UK government's attempts to silence Wright to Lewis Carroll's "Hunting of the Snark" - a pointless and uniquely British farce! And this sums things up quite well.
This book, in addition to refreshing my memory of the case (causing me more than once to glance at my copy of "Spycatcher" on my bookshelves) and also reminded me that the counsel for the defence (ie: Malcolm Turnbull) later wrote a book on the trial, titled "The Spycatcher Trial", and rose to become Australia's 29th Prime Minister.
This is definitely one for those interested in the history of the British secret service and of the "Spycatcher" case. One I will be adding to my own library.
September 3, 2024
This is a fascinating but deeply disturbing account of how the British government, establishment and secret services desperately tried to silence Peter Wright and prevent publication of his “Spy Catcher” memoir.
The level of detail is forensic and the author relies on previously unpublished court transcripts and documents to reveal the extent of the duplicity and attempted cover ups that took place.
I dimly remember the case but this book brought it sharply back to life and deserves a wide readership.
The level of detail is forensic and the author relies on previously unpublished court transcripts and documents to reveal the extent of the duplicity and attempted cover ups that took place.
I dimly remember the case but this book brought it sharply back to life and deserves a wide readership.
September 12, 2025
𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚜, 𝙸 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 tech guy, 𝚊 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝙸 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍 tech guy . 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜:
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April 29, 2025
excellent
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews