The Secret Agents Bedside Reader: A Compendium of Spy Writing

Interest in spies and spying has rarely been higher than it is today. This collection of classic fiction and nonfiction from spies and spy-writers provides a unique insight into the imaginary and the real worlds of espionage and its practitioners. Editor Michael Smith is a former intelligence officer and one of the leading authorities on the history of spies. He has collected a series of thrilling and absorbing stories told by some of the greatest spies and spy writers in this one collection. Daring wartime plans devised by Ian Fleming to steal an Enigma machine for the Bletchley Park code breakers sit side by side with reports from MI6 traitor Kim Philby to Moscow Centre, operations in Bolshevik Russia by Sidney Reilly, the original Ace of Spies, and the literary spy stories of Joseph Conrad and Erskine Childers. Each article or extract is accompanied by an expert introduction from Smith. Stories of espionage never cease to engage and enthral. Smith deftly uses his own experience and that of the many contributors to lead the reader through the fascinations of the secret world.

Michael Smith is an award-winning journalist and the number one best-selling author of Killer Elite: The inside story of America's most secret special operations team. Smith served in the British Army's Intelligence Corps before joining the BBC.

Michael Smith is an award-winning journalist and number one bestselling author. Smith served in the British Army’s Intelligence Corps before joining the BBC. He has since worked as a reporter for both the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Times, covering the wars in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. His many journalistic scoops include the publication of the Downing Street Memos, which exposed the way in which intelligence was ‘fixed’ in Washington DC in order to justify the war in Iraq. Smith’s many books include Six: A History of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1939; The Secrets of Station X: How the Bletchley Park Codebreakers Helped Win the War and Killer Elite: The inside story of America's most secret Special Operations team. He lives near Henley-on-Thames with his wife and family.