M SPYMASTER

Event alert: Go behind the scenes and learn more about the man reputed to be one of the inspirations for Ian Fleming's "M". Author Henry Hemming will be doing a presentation at the British Library in London on July 11th called M, Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster. From the press release: "Maxwell Knight was a paradox. A jazz obsessive and a nature enthusiast, he is also seen today as one of MI5's greatest spymasters, a man who did more than any other to break up British fascism during the Second World War. He was known to his agents and colleagues simply as M, and was rumoured to be part of the inspiration for the character M in the James Bond series. Knight became a legendary spymaster despite an almost total lack of qualifications. What set him apart from his peers was a mercurial ability to transform almost anyone into a fearless secret agent. Drawing on declassified documents, private family archives and interviews with retired MI5 officers as well as the families of MI5 agents, Henry Hemming reveals not just the shadowy world of espionage but a brilliant, enigmatic man at its centre, who was the first in MI5 to grasp the potential of training female agents. Henry Hemming tells the gripping story of M, as well as providing a taste of what it was like to work for this great spymaster." Henry Hemming is the author of Churchill's Iceman (published in the US as The Ingenious Mr. Pyke), Misadventure in the Middle East, and In Search of the English Eccentric. He has written for the Economist, The Sunday Times, FT Magazine and the Washington Post, among many others. More details here. In other news, my episodes of the Cocktail Nation radio show are now live: Episode #1(Danger Man) and Episode #2 (The 10th Victim), Epsiode #3 (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) Episode #4 (Roger Moore/The Saint). And tune in to Cocktail Nation -the number on lounge music radio show- every week for cool soundtracks, swingin' jazz, news and more. Enjoy!

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