Owen Matthews – författare

Vårt intresse för spioner, både verkliga och fiktiva, verkar outtömligt. Men var och när började spioneriets historia och hur har spionagearbetet och hantverket utvecklats genom århundradena?

Spioner i historien är en samling porträtt av några av de mest berömda spionerna, men innehåller även några mindre kända och mer överraskande namn: Rahab, den kananeiska kvinnan i Bibeln som hjälper israeliterna före deras anfall mot Jeriko; Thomas Phelippes, en skicklig kryptoanalytiker och hanterare av hemliga agenter under den elisabetanska tiden och Noël Coward, den berömde dramatikern och sångaren som använde sitt kändisskap för att påverka den amerikanska allmänheten och den politiska opinionen för att hjälpa Storbritannien under andra världskriget.

I den här volymen undersöker historiker, forskare och författare underrättelseverksamhet och spionage genom historien från den antika världen till det kalla kriget och vidare till Putins, Trumps och Xi Jinpings tidsålder. Boken finns även i engelsk utgåva.

Vårt intresse för spioner, både verkliga och fiktiva, verkar outtömligt. Men var och när började spioneriets historia och hur har spionagearbetet och hantverket utvecklats genom århundradena?

Spies in History är en samling porträtt av några av de mest berömda spionerna, men innehåller även några mindre kända och mer överraskande namn: Rahab, den kananeiska kvinnan i Bibeln som hjälper israeliterna före deras anfall mot Jeriko; Thomas Phelippes, en skicklig kryptoanalytiker och hanterare av hemliga agenter under den elisabetanska tiden och Noël Coward, den berömde dramatikern och sångaren som använde sitt kändisskap för att påverka den amerikanska allmänheten och den politiska opinionen för att hjälpa Storbritannien under andra världskriget. I den här volymen undersöker historiker, forskare och författare underrättelseverksamhet och spionage genom historien från den antika världen till det kalla kriget och vidare till Putins, Trumps och Xi Jinpings tidsålder. Boken finns även i svensk utgåva.

Brought to you by Penguin. Inspired by one the least known but most terrifying moments in modern history - when the fate of the world lay with a lone, nervous Soviet naval officer one hundred meters under the Caribbean sea - lies at the heart of this breathtaking new Cold War thriller from the author of the acclaimed Black Sun.The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is searching for ghosts: for evidence of the long-rumoured existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelons of Soviet power. But it''s while on this wild goose chase, a high-stakes espionage race against a rival State agency, that Vasin first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking: Operation Anadyr.As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines - each carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads - are ordered to make a covert run at the U.S. blockade in the Caribbean . . .© Owen Matthews 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

The new novel from a master of the Cold War thriller . . .''This is Robert Harris storytelling territory'' Daily Mail''Outstanding'' Sunday Times''Tense, exciting and authentic'' Charles Cumming, author of Judas 62''Stunning'' The Times''Brilliantly plotted'' John Sweeney, author of Killer in the Kremlin''A standout thriller'' Financial Times1963. In a desolate Russian penal colony, the radio broadcasts news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy...Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin''s new posting as director of a gulag camp in the middle of the frozen tundra is far from a promotion. This is where disgraced agents, like Vasin, disappear - sent to die forgotten. And quietly. But tensions in the camp are running high and when a violent revolt breaks out, Vasin finds himself on the run. With him is a mysterious prisoner - who holds the key to the most dangerous secret in the world: who ordered Kennedy''s murder.In a breathless race that takes them through the Soviet Union - from the barren Siberian wastelands to the stunning halls of the Katerina Palace and the grey streets of Leningrad and Moscow - Vasin must stay one step ahead of the most ruthless spy and police organizations in the world . . . and keep the most wanted man in Russia alive. It''s a journey that will push Vasin''s loyalty, morality and his patriotism to the limit. And he must confront the ultimate choice: fall in line, or die fighting the system.With masterful storytelling that weaves together an explosive moment in history with the cutthroat machinations of Soviet politics, Owen Matthews'' White Fox captures the paradigm-shifting assassination from a unique Soviet point of view. This is a page-turning thriller - a race against time across Soviet Russia, where the participants face impossible odds and must decide between truth, justice and all-out war.

Inspired by one the least known but most terrifying moments in modern history - when the fate of the world lay with a lone, nervous Soviet naval officer one hundred meters under the Caribbean sea - lies at the heart of this breathtaking new Cold War thriller from the author of the acclaimed Black Sun.

The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is searching for ghosts: for evidence of the long-rumoured existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelons of Soviet power. But it's while on this wild goose chase, a high-stakes espionage race against a rival State agency, that Vasin first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking: Operation Anadyr. As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines - each carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads - are ordered to make a covert run at the U.S. blockade in the Caribbean . . .

Richard Sorge avea două patrii. Născut dintr-un tată german și o mamă rusoaică în 1895, a trăit într-o lume de alianțe mereu în schimbare și de posibilități infinite. Membru al generației furi - oase și deziluzionate care a găsit credințe noi și radicale după experiențele nefericite de pe câmpurile de bătaie ale Primului Război Mondial, Sorge a devenit un comunist fanatic și cel mai formidabil spion al Uniunii Sovietice.

Ca mulți alți mari spioni, Sorge seducea fără efort, combi - nând șarmul și manipularea nemiloasă. În calitatea lui de cores - pondent străin, s-a infiltrat și a influențat cele mai înalte sfere ale societății germane, chineze și japoneze în anii dinaintea și din timpul celui de al Doilea Război Mondial.

Informațiile sale privind Operațiunea Barbarossa și intenția japoneză de a nu invada Siberia în 1941 s-au dovedit cruciale pentru contraofen - siva sovietică din Bătălia pentru Moscova, care, la rândul ei, a fost crucială pentru rezultatul războiului.

Owen Matthews ne oferă o perspectivă istorică asupra aces - tui personaj misterios și folosește pentru aceasta nenumărate surse din arhivele sovietice desecretizate pentru a recupera povestea palpitantă a omului descris de Ian Fleming drept „cel mai temut spion din istorie”.