To Catch a Spy - How the Spycatcher Affair Brought MI5 in from the Cold (361)

Cold War Conversations

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?

Tim Tate is the author of To Catch a Spy - How the Spycatcher Affair Brought MI5 in from the Cold and in this episode he reveals the astonishing true story of the British government's attempts to silence whistleblower and ex MI5 Spycatcher Peter Wright and hide the truth about Britain's intelligence services and political elites.

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 Drawing on thousands of pages of previously unpublished court transcripts, the contents of secret British government files, and original interviews with many of the key players in the Spycatcher trials.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.

Related episodes

• Guy Burgess and the Cambridge Spy Ring https://pod.fo/e/a5e38
• Charlotte Philby talks about her grandfather Soviet spy Kim Philby https://pod.fo/e/115bd7
• Spy Who Was Left Out in the Cold: The Secret History of Agent Goleniewski https://pod.fo/e/cd2e1

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