Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer

by Peter Maurice Wright

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 1,889 ratings · 107 reviews

The British government's efforts to block publication of Peter Wright's Spycatcher: Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Agent climaxed in a sensational trial in Australia in 1986 that cast a shadow of disrepute on the British legal system, the Official Secrets Act and the government itself. The author of this engrossing, suspenseful account is the Australian atto ...more

Mass Market Paperback , 496 pages

Published July 1st 1988 by Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group (first published 1987)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Or buy for

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Spycatcher , please sign up .

Be the first to ask a question about Spycatcher

Lists with This Book

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

Espionage

172nd out of 625 books — 771 voters

Books you read that you weren't supposed to read

90th out of 169 books — 160 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort : default (?) | rating details

May 19, 2009 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-and-biography

If the British Government hadn't tried to ban this book, the memoirs of a former counter-intelligence agent, I would never have read it. And the same probably goes for most of the two million odd people who bought it. You'd think they'd have learned by now, wouldn't you?

It's not brilliantly written or anything, but there are some startling anecdotes. I challenge anyone not to feel just a little bit paranoid afterwards. The one I liked best was the suspect who goes away for the weekend. They brea ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Feb 08, 2012 Gail Carriger rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I read this book for research not pleasure. I've various thoughts on it, so please excuse me for being scattered and simply reviewing it with bullet points as opposed to full sentences?

* It's not very good as a page-by-page read. The writing is dense and non-linear in an Odyssey way. I had to take it in bite sized chunks, as if it were a textbook.
* Every time a new character is introduced Mr. Wright sidetracks to tell us background or a story about an incident gone wrong involving that person I read this book for research not pleasure. I've various thoughts on it, so please excuse me for being scattered and simply reviewing it with bullet points as opposed to full sentences?

* It's not very good as a page-by-page read. The writing is dense and non-linear in an Odyssey way. I had to take it in bite sized chunks, as if it were a textbook.
* Every time a new character is introduced Mr. Wright sidetracks to tell us background or a story about an incident gone wrong involving that person or some such that often takes pages, by which time I've entirely forgotten why we were meeting this character to begin with.
* What this book is good for is insight into the early British MI5 mindset. The kind of mindset that allowed the Cambridge spies to succeed.
* If you don't know anything about the Cambridge spy ring of WWII, I suggest you learn something BEFORE picking up this book, or most of Spycatcher will make no sense whatsoever. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridg...
* Wright has a wonderful way of describing people's physicality and personality, from a purely authorial point of view he is marvelous. As a writer it's worth checking out his technique as it could be easily applied to fiction. "He was tall and thin, with a pinched goatlike face, and strange affected tiptoed walk." pg. 318
* When he does get on to the details of some operation or another, especially the failed ones (i.e. pg. 89) it's quite fascinating. Particularly if you are interested in espionage before the age of computers and super technology. 007 this is most certainly NOT.
* Some of his descriptions of the internal workings of the establishment are as convoluted as the establishment itself. Visual aids would have been as welcome as they were unlikely.
* What a wonderful movie might be made from the information in this book, Spooks meets Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy meets Mad Men. Fab!
* Furnival Jones be one of the best names ever.
* Ever heard of the brilliant American cryptologist Meredith Gardener? No? Me neither. Ah forgotten female heroes.
* I particularly enjoyed the bit about when one of the very Gay spies was tasked with wooing of Clarissa Churchill, "scarcely better looking then her uncle." (pg. 306)
* His description of the concentric rings of secrecy involving the Cambridge spies and why and how they managed to keep their secrets is possibly the best bits in the book. It's a window not only into spy culture, but into aristocratic and homosexual culture of Britain in the 1930s.

My verdict? I'm glad I read it, but I wish the information had been better organized. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2008 Meri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoir , history , britian

I devoured this one in two days. I thought espionage movies are interesting, but was blown away by how much more intrigue, deceit, and flashy gadgets there are in the true stories!

Peter Wright was recruited into MI5 following World War II as their first staff scientist. He began in signals technology, designing new methods for detecting and decrypting soviet signals. A rising star, he quickly moved on to counterintelligence, where he spends the remainder of his career trying to ferret out moles I devoured this one in two days. I thought espionage movies are interesting, but was blown away by how much more intrigue, deceit, and flashy gadgets there are in the true stories!

Peter Wright was recruited into MI5 following World War II as their first staff scientist. He began in signals technology, designing new methods for detecting and decrypting soviet signals. A rising star, he quickly moved on to counterintelligence, where he spends the remainder of his career trying to ferret out moles in the system. Despite the ultimate futility of his work--every time he finds a mole, evidence of more arises--and what it means for the effectiveness of his organization, Wright passionately pursues his work, though near the end he admits to feeling like he is surrounded by enemies.

The characters in Wright's memoir are larger than life, as spies in the movies never are. There's Pete Harvey, a volatile, alcoholic CIA agent who wears cowboy boots and calls Wright a limey bastard. Anthony Blunt, cultured intellectual with a history for passionate love affairs with fellow spies (mostly men) who lives in quiet luxury after confessing to large scale espionage (Britian has a habit of granting moles immunity if they confess). And Jim Angleton, whose passion for his work and belief that the great game can be won leaves him looking more emaciated each time Wright sees him.

The sheer volume and stature of the moles Wright finds, some of whom are department directors, left me with the initial impression that the entire business of espionage, especially counterespionage, is futile and self defeating. Not only is it impossible to have a large number of people keep a secret, but the work itself damages the people who do it. Few can be in the business of deception and distrust without eventually becoming paranoid, deceitful, or misanthropic.

On the other hand, wiretaps and double agents were the weapons of the Cold War. Though it was, as Wright put it, just a great game, it's a far less destructive way to fight a war than with bombs and guns. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 20, 2012 Si rated it 4 of 5 stars

An interesting read that describes the life of Peter Wright, from his early days, his move into MI5 as a techie (particularly developing bugging techniques and detection of foreign transmissions), then concentrates on his work in counter intelligence. It's also fascinating to learn how the organisation worked.

He gives frank opinions of the people with whom he worked, both positive and negative, and similarly on how MI5 was run, giving both praise and criticism, and showing how he tried to impro ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 18, 2009 Gavin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-non-fiction

This may well still be banned in the UK, although why it would remain to be so now is somewhat of a mystery, what with the supposed opening up of the secret world. At the time of its initial publication this rather tame memoir got a great deal of publicity due to Thatcher's government slapping a ban on it. This naturally led to a surge of interest that probably would otherwise not have been there and it sold in its thousands.

Not having read it before, I approached it with something of a fresh vi ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2008 John Dalton added it · review of another edition

I picked up this book in our last trip to our favourite second hand book store. I don t read as much non-fiction as I should, but this instantly appealed to me so I decided to take it home.[return][return]Spycatcher is the story of the author s career as an agent for MI5, Britain s secret intelligence service. He was an electrical engineer whose work had proven useful to the intelligence services during the second World War, and by the end of the 1940 s he d been recruited by them to continue hi I picked up this book in our last trip to our favourite second hand book store. I don t read as much non-fiction as I should, but this instantly appealed to me so I decided to take it home.[return][return]Spycatcher is the story of the author s career as an agent for MI5, Britain s secret intelligence service. He was an electrical engineer whose work had proven useful to the intelligence services during the second World War, and by the end of the 1940 s he d been recruited by them to continue his work from the inside.[return][return]Peter Wright was the first person employed by MI5 as a scientist. Military research encouraged innovative uses of technology in an environment of scarce resources, and this was an environment in which people (invariably men) like Peter excelled.[return][return]As well as detailing the invention and deployment of various covert surveillance and counter-surveillance devices, the book discusses the climate of international espionage as the Cold War began to warm up, so to speak. It s fascinating to read an insider s perspective on the tensions between the various allies, as well as the superiority in both technology and manpower of the Soviet intelligence services at that time.[return][return]This was a time of double agents and defectors, and much of the book deals with the controversy of highly placed moles within MI5. As well as discussing some defections which were highly publicised at the time, the author also reveals his part in these affairs as an agent conducting internal investigations of co-workers suspected of spying for the Soviets. A central theme of the book is the author s allegation that Roger Hollis (Director of MI5 from 1956 - 1972) was a Soviet spy. This was a controversial allegation because it was not publicly known that Hollis had even been suspected of spying at the time that the book was published, and also because Wright remained convinced of Hollis guilt despite the fact that a lack of concrete evidence had resulted in Hollis being cleared by an internal investigation.[return][return]The author s case is convincing, because the interrogations as he describes them seem to have been very genial occasions, with suspects sometimes having been interrogated by officers who were not only colleagues but close personal friends! In addition to this, suspected moles were of course quite familiar with the techniques employed in interrogation, and it seems likely that they would have been able to avoid any admission of guilt unless confronted with solid evidence.[return][return]Many of the events spoken of in this book were well known at the time of its publication. However there was some controversy over the publication because of the events revealed by the book which were previously unknown to the public, or even to parts of the British government.[return][return]I had been looking forward to catching up on developments in the saga post-publication, but there doesn t seem to be a great deal of information online. The dust jacket discusses a trial which took place here in Australia, with quotes from numerous well known figures such as Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Turnbull (Peter Wright s defence attorney!), but it all took place when I was in primary school and I have to admit that it escaped my attention at the time.[return][return]I postponed any attempt to find out what had happened until after I had finished the book, but when I happened to mention to a work colleague that I was reading it he said Peter Wright? Oh, he died here in Tasmania a few years ago. . Further research revealed a little bit more of the puzzle, and I have some links at the end of this review.[return][return]Despite leaving me with unanswered questions, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If I was to make any criticism it would be that it was sometimes hard for me to keep track of who was who and what was going on, as general chronological progression of the story was frequently disturbed by excursions into the future or past in order to deal with the theme at hand. This is only a minor criticism though, and one which really didn t detract much from the experience.[return][return]One thing I d like to have read more about was the details of the various discoveries and ingenious uses of technology. It seemed to be very much a geeky kind of hands-on experimentation that they employed, but the author lamented that this later gave way to much more pedestrian, expensive and sometimes less fruitful research. In my opinion there are parallels within the computing industry today, although the open source movement currently seems to have injected some of that hacker-style enthusiasm back into things.[return][return]In short, if you have any interest in the subject matter and can track down a copy of this book, it s a recommended read.[return][return] Further Reading: [return]The BBC's On This Day archive shows stories related to the British governments attempts to ban the book. Those stories ran on July 31st 1987 , and October 13th, 1988 . There are also a few articles in the Wikipedia , on Spycatcher (detailing the controversy over the book itself), as well as the author Peter Wright , and also Roger Hollis .[return][return][return][return](Originally posted at http://varrqnuht.net/archives/2005/04... ) ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 07, 2014 Frank Inserra rated it 5 of 5 stars

The definitional work on MI5 by a man who should know. The only book that even comes close to it in terms of authenticity is Marchetti's CIA and the Cult of Intelligence.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 09, 2015 Gavin rated it 5 of 5 stars

My dad brought this home to me from Belfast in 1987. It was banned at the time, actually at this point I'm not sure how he picked up a copy, but I really did enjoy the book and I think it crystallized my love of spy tales. The eleventh commandment still sticks out, 'thou shalt not get caught.' Pretty much something that most of the military and political world seem to follow in this day and age. There are still heroes, but not as many as we require.

As an aside, the lawyer for Peter Wright, who h ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2015 Dan Cohen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history , politics

I found this book surprisingly engrossing. I did not read it at the time it came out and the negative publicity that has attached itself to Peter Wright in the intervening years perhaps influenced me unduly to ignore it. But I found it a fascinating read and extremely revealing. The descriptions of the operations mounted by MI5 and of the technological developments were really interesting, as was the picture conveyed of the old-boys-club nature of British intelligence services during the war and ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 28, 2013 Atiey Khairudin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

A glimpse into their world, truly fascinating. I really like it. For years I have tried to read this book, but left it after few pages! The first 8 chapters were very boring, more on how the author started his career in MI5. But from the middle onward, there were more actions, interesting theories and of course, facts. The fact that intelligence agency follows the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt not get caught", is a vivid proof that in this world, sometimes you(authorized people) need to work out ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2014 Bill Keefe rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a great book! It was a great chronicle of a career, an in-depth look at the British intelligence services and a perceptive look at a culture and an era. To top it off it was very, very well written spy thriller. Stunningly so, if he actually wrote it himself.

The main complaint about this book seems to be that it is simply driven by Mr. Wright's resentment about the failure of people to take action on his major work and his anger for having been denied 17 years of earned pension benefits ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 17, 2014 Walter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: espionage

Although the world of espionage is fascinating in and of itself, "Spy Catcher" is a bit of a disappointment. There seems to be a literary genre of books written by disillusioned bureaucrats, military officers and others who leave their organizations under a cloud and write a tell-all book to get their revenge on their former co-workers. If such a genre exists, this book would definitely be part of it.

Peter Wright is a counter-espionage officer who worked for the MI5 and MI6 organizations in Brit Although the world of espionage is fascinating in and of itself, "Spy Catcher" is a bit of a disappointment. There seems to be a literary genre of books written by disillusioned bureaucrats, military officers and others who leave their organizations under a cloud and write a tell-all book to get their revenge on their former co-workers. If such a genre exists, this book would definitely be part of it.

Peter Wright is a counter-espionage officer who worked for the MI5 and MI6 organizations in Britain. He has some fascinating stories to tell, about the "Cambridge 5" spies who reached the top of the British spy agencies by the 1950s and who all defected to the Soviet Union by 1970. Wright gives plenty of indicators of why British Intelligence should have known about these guys, but it makes you wonder, as Wright himself was part of the counter-intelligence organization in those days but he didn't catch them either. Wright gives plenty of discussion about the "Verona" cables that were intercepted by British and American intelligence in the waning days of World War II, around the time that the Western powers shed the dillusion that the Soviet Union was our friend. The cables reference several Soviet agents within British intelligence, and the "Cambridge 5" don't account for all of them. Perhaps there were more spies in top positions in MI6? Wright seems to think so. This impressively long list of successful Soviet moles within the British intelligence community is a strange thing for a man to write about, seeing as how this author was employed for decades for the express purpose of catching moles.

The last part of the book really is more of a whinefest of how intelligence is going the way of the dinosaur. Wright is not a big fan of the trend of electronic analysis of intelligence. Unfortunately, the world has changed since the 1960s, and electronics are not going away. Men like Wright need to embrace the change or get out of the way. As you can tell, I do not agree with Wright's analysis on this issue.

Overall, Spycatcher is a good book for those who are interested in Cold War espionage in the period of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. If you can filter out the self-serving aspects of this book, you should enjoy this one. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 13, 2015 Erik Graff rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: espionage fans

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: biography

This is at once a professional autobiography and a history of Britain's counterexpionage service, Mi5, from WWII until the mid-seventies. The focus is on Soviet and Eastern Block spies in the UK, ranging from the Cambridge spies, who proved their roles by defection, to the head of Mi5 itself, Sir Roger Hollis, whose actual allegiances, while very suspect from the author's perspective, remain uncertain.

Since author Wright had an electronics background the beginning of his narrative pays much atte ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 06, 2007 Sudi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Buku yang mengungkap liku-liku dunia intelijen dan kontra-spionase. Salah satu trik intelijen MI5 adalah menyortir surat-surat dari dan ke alamat Partai Komunis Inggris Raya dengan cara diuapkan amplopnya. Suatu ketika, saat membuka amplop surat, direktur MI5 mendapatkan tulisan berisi, "Bangsat, pasti kalian baca surat ini!!" Surat itu kemudian dibingkai, dan dipajang di dinding kantor.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 08, 2015 Behzad rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are too many things one could say about this book. Details of MI5, its relationship with MI6, Cambridge ring, less known Oxford ring, and many fascinating details about British Security services. Peter Wright comes out of shadows and shed light on the most secretive aspects of this service. Details of decades of confusion and embarrassment demonstrate how the dark side of world is very much humane.

There are a few parts of the book that are particularly interesting for me. Most important o ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Mohamad Dahrouj rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

يبين الكتاب دور المخابرات البريطانية في كثير من الاحداث ويتحدث عن التعاون والتنافس مع المخابرات الامريكية . وكذلك عن قدرة المخابرات السوفيتية على اختراق الغرب

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 19, 2014 Simon Zohhadi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite-books

A fascinating autobiography from Peter Wright detailing his work for British intelligence. This is a controversial book that Thatcher tried to ban. The suspicions and exposure of the Cambridge Four spies are all discussed and a name is put to a fifth high ranking traitor in MI5. Blake and other lower ranking spies are also included in the account. Peter Wright is clearly a very clever scientist & intelligence officer but at times seems too eager to point the figure at high ranking intelligen ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 29, 2012 rabbitprincess rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who are interested

Recommended to rabbitprincess by: Ray

Shelves: pilfered , 2012

As the subtitle indicates, this is "the candid autobiography of a senior intelligence officer" with Britain's MI5, the domestic intelligence service. My edition, a mass market paperback, is covered with plenty of laudatory quotes. The Financial Post believed that "Margaret Thatcher was quite right in trying to ban the book," while The New York Times said that "anyone with a taste for cloak-and-dagger mysteries should find Spycatcher a compelling read." I can't speak to the accuracy of the statem As the subtitle indicates, this is "the candid autobiography of a senior intelligence officer" with Britain's MI5, the domestic intelligence service. My edition, a mass market paperback, is covered with plenty of laudatory quotes. The Financial Post believed that "Margaret Thatcher was quite right in trying to ban the book," while The New York Times said that "anyone with a taste for cloak-and-dagger mysteries should find Spycatcher a compelling read." I can't speak to the accuracy of the statement re Mrs Thatcher, but I will partly agree with the quote about cloak-and-dagger mysteries. Indeed, some parts, particularly in the early days when Wright chronicles the major surveillance operations he was involved in, are fascinating in the same way as a le Carré novel. (Given that le Carré himself worked as an intelligence officer around that time, this is not entirely surprising.)

Those who have read Christopher Andrew's Defence of the Realm may have a slight edge in knowing the major players and events in this book, which is definitely a more personal perspective than Andrew's book. Spycatcher is also a bit dated of course, given that it was published in 1987 (or rather my edition was). I think the book overall was pretty good, but for me personally my interest waned in the events once the 1970s rolled around. This also happened with Andrew's book so it's not necessarily Wright's fault that I find WW2 and the Kim Philby affair much more interesting.

If you plan to read this, beware of copious typographical errors in this edition. Also the chapters don't have any internal section breaks, so some can be tougher slogs than others. But overall I would say the content is good and worth a read if you're interested (at least the first half). ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 26, 2011 Sheehan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After almost 400pages I feel like I have a pretty good sense of one insider's take on the flood of Russian spies who allegedly infiltrated high level positions of the MI5 in 1930's to 1960's; but all this was pretty clear from the first 200 pages. The last half, chronicling the intra-office politics, and the generational shift to a bureaucratization of the services from agent-based to technology-based analytics got pretty boring, and I was ready for it to end.

Apparently Wright was a pariah for h ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 07, 2014 Andrew L rated it 3 of 5 stars

I quite liked this and really sped through it, due to the interesting subject matter, in interesting times. However, its not particularly well written. Lots of acronyms and details of department structures and similar that are exceptionally hard to follow (and in some cases, don't seem to be that relevant). And lots of technical detail about particular spycraft (eg listening devices) that isn't explained all that well. Still, a good read.

flag Like · see review

Mar 14, 2015 Dave Fleet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely fascinating.

Spycatcher isn't particularly well-written - the author takes detours constantly and it is often hard to follow which layer of story you're currently in - nor is it free of his own personal bias. Still, the stories themselves and the picture it paints of the intelligence services during the Cold War are captivating.

I blew through this book as though it were a novel.

flag Like · see review

Dec 09, 2014 Chris Oler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mr. Wright's frustration is palpable as he leads the effort to find the most notorious double agent in Britain's history. I read this 20 years ago and found it fascinating, though a little dry. My read was probably too quick and I wouldn't mind giving it another look. If you're interested in the history of espionage during the Cold War, you can't pass up this firsthand account.

flag Like · see review

May 18, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-or-before , bookcrossing

An interesting topic and insights to the history of the UK intelligence a few decades ago.
While overall it felt a bit too long, it had interesting descriptions on spying equipment and practices, and ... the whole world seems so different back then. Spying with microphones and watcher cars, wiretapping phones, using encoded radio connections. The spying world before the Echelon (but with GCHQ already there, among with MI5 and MI6) and the modern threats.
A big part of the book (and the career or ...more

flag Like · see review

Dec 28, 2014 David Snashall rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is not a bad romp through the spy world of the 1950s to 1970s, but it gets a bit repetitive, overly detailed and boring in parts. The author had his agendas, perhaps obsessions, that drive the content and narrative.

flag Like · see review

Feb 24, 2013 Betty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: spy , england

I've been reading spy fiction for eons, so I am surprised it took me so long to read Spycatcher. I was fascinated with the inside story of MI5 during the WWII and post-War periods. And I was simply amazed at the perseverance and focus that it took to do the kind of research-based work that Wright specialized in. And sometimes it was mind-boggling, as when he explained the VENONA codebreak. For me, the best part was about his many interviews with Anthony Blunt. While he doesn't help us understand ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 07, 2012 Hayley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult , biographies-memoirs , non-fiction

Very interesting account of a life's work in MI5. Some of the technical details went over my head but Wright's descriptions of meetings with his co-workers, allies, and informants, were fascinating. He has a knack for dissecting a person on the page and his perceptiveness allows him to comment with intelligent hindsight on the accomplishments and failures of British Security during his career, including the hunt for the alleged mole in MI5, whom Wright believed was eventual Director General Roge ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 False Millennium rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoirs , history-united-kingdom

I had just read an autobiography by the former head of M15 which read so vetted and flat. This was the exact opposite. He did go into cases and especially the infamous circle of five: Burgess, Philby, Blunt, etc. In one portion of discussing that double agent problem he discussed the idea of loyalties within that group and how it lay, not just in a secret ring, but layers of rings: Cambridge (their education), The Apostle's Club (also college); their work, and their homosexuality, and where they ...more

flag Like · see review

Apr 10, 2015 Tim Swain rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting, a bit heavy going in places and a touch too own trumpet blowing in others. If you are into espionage fiction then worth a read to 'ground' yourself a little. Glad I read it.

flag Like · see review

Aug 12, 2015 Noura Abdelfattah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

اييييه الحياة دى.. اواى انسان يستحمل يعيش وسوط المكايد والكدب..
ثم اى الاختراق السوفيتى لبريطانيا ده... دى كان احتلال
انا كده قدرت افهم مصطلح الحرب الباردة

flag Like · see review

Jun 21, 2014 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Plenty of good intertwining tales in here but the text jumps around in time too much, making the story hard to follow.

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

History

45 users

Biography

36 users

Spy Thriller > Espionage

32 users

Autobiography > Memoir

11 users

Politics

9 users

Literature > Banned Books

7 users

Biography > Autobiography

7 users

War > Military

6 users

European Literature > British Literature

5 users

See top shelves...

Books by Peter Maurice Wright

The Spycatcher's Encyclopedia of Espionage

More…

Share This Book

Share on your website

title link	preview: Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer
avg rating	preview: Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer Goodreads rating: 3.68 (1889 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/971569.Spycatcher?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387710893l/971569.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/971569.Spycatcher?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer by Peter Maurice Wright[/url]

+ Share on your website

Trivia About Spycatcher: The C...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

See a Problem?

Preview — Spycatcher by Peter Maurice Wright

Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Books by Peter Maurice Wright

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About Spycatcher: The C...

See a Problem?

Preview — Spycatcher by Peter Maurice Wright

Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Books by Peter Maurice Wright

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About Spycatcher: The C...

new topic
Discuss This Book