In 2010 Biteback, a leading publisher of political and current affairs titles, started to bring back classic out-of-print spy histories with the aim of reinvigorating some of the best military, espionage and adventure stories ever told. The Dialogue Espionage series includes but is not limited to almost-forgotten histories and people of the Cold War, French Resistance, Special Operations and the Cambridge Five. Here are five titles that have long been bestsellers at Postscript.
Go Spy the Land: Being the Adventures of IK8 of the British Secret Service by George Alexander Hill (2014)
Concerned that the British secret service was suffering from a misconception that espionage is ‘a necessary dull occupation’, George Alexander Hill’s classic memoir recalls the daring adventures of a variety of colourful characters, including Sidney Reilly, Leon Trotsky and Arthur Ransome. First published in 1932.
Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews by Michael Smith (2016)
MI6 head of station in Berlin and bound to secrecy, Frank Foley was working as a Berlin Passport Control Officer when he helped thousands of Jews to flee the country using false passports. He sheltered those on the run from the Gestapo and entered concentration camps to assist with saving those confined, and yet Foley was a relatively unsung heroic figure until Michael Smith’s book led to the recognition of Foley as Righteous Among Nations.
The Unknown Courier: The True Story of Operation Mincemeat by Ian Colvin (2016)
First published in 1953, this book reveals the truth behind a seemingly grave stroke of misfortune for the British during the Second World War. On the coast of Spain, the body of Major William Martin is washed up along with top-secret plans for the invasion of Italy. Both the plans and the Major himself were fake, which caused Hitler to divert his forces away from Sicily.
Dilly: The Man Who Broke Enigmas by Mavis Batey (2017)
Alfred Dillwyn Knox, known simply as ‘Dilly’, was a British classics scholar, papyrologist and codebreaker. He was involved in breaking the Zimmermann Telegram which bought the USA into the First World War, as well as the German Navy’s main flag code which he did by exploiting an operator’s love of poetry. He went on to crack the German Enigma ciphers during the Second World War at Bletchley Park.
MI9: Escape and Evasion by MRD Foot and JM Langley (2020)
MI9, the secret department of the War Office during the Second World War, was responsible for assisting the escape of POWs held by Axis countries and helping Allied military personnel evade capture. First published in 1979, the book describes the inside story of how the organization sent maps, clothes and even hacksaws in return for key information about the enemy’s homeland.
