logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2023
54m 11s

A Spy Alone - Interview with Charles Bea...

Shane Whaley
About this episode

David Clark interviews former MI6 officer and debut author Charles Beaumont, whose novel A Spy Alone has just been published in the UK. (Available on Kindle elsewhere.) A QUICK HEADS UP. A Spybrary first, due to Charles Beaumont's work for the Intelligence Services, our technical division has digitally altered his voice to protect his identity. Spybrary's David Clark and Charles Beaumont discuss the themes of the book, including Russian interference in the UK's political affairs, the complexities of modern espionage, and the influence of spy fiction on real-world intelligence operations. Charles shares his literary influences, the portrayal of characters in his book, and the challenges of writing spy fiction in the post-Cold War era. Charles also reveals which spy movies and spy TV series he rates best!

Up next
Jun 25
He Stole the KGB’s Secrets For Years! With Gordon Corera
Gordon Corera makes his Spybrary debut in this riveting episode of the Spybrary podcast. Host Shane Whaley welcomes the former BBC security correspondent, espionage historian and host of The Rest is Classified podcast, Gordon Corera to discuss his latest book, The Spy in the Arch ... Show More
56m 34s
Jun 12
Inside the Int. Spy Museum: Shane & Joe’s Espionage Adventure
In this special episode of Spybrary, Shane is joined by fellow spy fan Joe Modzelewski for an in-depth International Spy Museum review. Recorded after their recent visit to the museum in Washington D.C., this episode is packed with honest reflections, surprising discoveries, and ... Show More
33m 37s
May 29
The Poet's Game - A Spy in Moscow with Author Paul Vidich
On this episode of Spybrary, I welcome back one of today's finest spy fiction authors, Paul Vidich. We're diving into his gripping new novel, The Poet's Game, a contemporary espionage thriller rooted in the tense geopolitics of modern-day Russia and the United States. Paul joins ... Show More
49m 42s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams ~ Full Audiobook
The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams audiobook. Charles Felix was the pseudonym of Charles Warren Adams, an English Lawyer and publisher and is now known to have been the author of 'The Notting Hill Mystery', thought to be the first full length detective novel in Engl ... Show More
5h 11m
Mar 2024
CLASSIC: Agent 355: Washington's Secret Spy
Spies aren't just relegated to the Cold War and James Bond -- in fact, spycraft played a crucial role in the Revolutionary War. One of the government's most effective spies was so accomplished that, even in the modern day, their identity remains a mystery. Join the guys as they u ... Show More
45 m
Feb 2022
380 Ian Fleming | PLUS The Black James Bond
Ian Fleming (1908-1964) always wanted to be a writer. Not an "author," as he put it, and not someone in the "Shakespeare stakes," but someone who wrote for money and pleasure. In developing his enduring character James Bond, he managed to accomplish both. In this episode, Jacke t ... Show More
51m 52s
Sep 2021
19. Licensed to Kill: The Couple that Inspired James Bond with Dr. Richard Wooldridge
It's Mason, Peter Mason. Today, guest Dr. Richard Wooldridge dives into the interesting lives of talented MI6 agents Prudence and Peter Mason. Part of a specialized unit called the Baker Team that sought to even the score with war criminals who had faced no repercussions fol ... Show More
46m 43s
Oct 2023
Spies, Sex, and John le Carré
In 1963, a British spy writing under the pen name John le Carré published a novel that shot to the top of best-seller lists worldwide. After the success of “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” le Carré became known as the king of the modern spy thriller, and his gritty, political ... Show More
41m 36s
May 2012
Cluedo and Cadavers: British Detective Fiction
Peter Kemp, the Sunday Times fiction editor, talks at the Crime Fiction Day at St John's College, University of Oxford, on the theme of British Detective Fiction. 
1h 1m
Jun 2024
Orwell vs. Kafka: The Man Who Disappeared - Episode 1
Franz Kafka’s dark comic fantasy about an innocent’s misadventures in early 20th century America.After a mysterious family scandal, the young immigrant Karl Rossman is expelled from his Bohemian home and dispatched to America by his parents. Adrift in this strange new world, Karl ... Show More
57m 42s