The Secret World: A History of Intelligence

Christopher Andrew

Chair: Helen Fry

04/03/2019 12:30 pm
JW3, Auditorium at JW3

Christopher Andrew, the world’s leading historian of intelligence, presents a scintillating global account of three thousand years of spying. From the ultimate Biblical spymaster, Joshua, whose extensive spy network used a brothel in Bethlehem as their base, to the tactics of Caesar, the writings of Sun Tzu, Elizabeth I’s exasperation with her spies, and the West’s failure before 9/11 to understand the role of religious extremism in driving terrorism, this is a brilliant and entertaining account. In conversation with best-selling author and historian Helen Fry

Christopher Andrew


Christopher Andrew is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cambridge University, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, in-house historian for MI5, former Visiting Professor of National Security at Harvard University, and guest lecturer at numerous universities. With Oleg Gordievsky, he published KGB – The Inside Story, the book that revealed the identity of the fifth man. He is also the author of The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized Official History of MI5. Professor Andrew is also a frequent presenter of BBC TV and radio programmes on history and world affairs.

Helen Fry


Historian Dr Helen Fry has written over 25 books on the Second World War with particular reference to British intelligence, espionage, prisoners of war and the secret war. She has also written a number of books about the 10,000 Germans who fought for Britain in WWII. Her acclaimed book The Walls Have Ears became a bestseller and was in the Daily Mail’s Top 8 Books of the Year on War. Her latest book MI9: A History of the British Secret Service for Escape and Evasion has attracted widespread media attention. Helen has appeared in numerous TV documentaries as well as live BBC news interviews. She is an Ambassador for The Museum of Military Intelligence and President of the Friends of the National Archives. Image cr. Greg Morrison

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