True!

Tradecraft is fantastic.

Mohammed Atta and Abdul Omari could have enjoyed a lovely trip to Los Angeles. But in less than an hour after takeoff their lives would change drastically.....

"America the wounded animal terrified me: it's strength waning, it's anger alight, it's terrible ignorance undimmed. Was it not the savior of the world for Christ's sake? No, it was not for Christ's or anyone else's. It was wounded and enraged and more ignorant."

John le Carré wrote this note as part of a 2006 speech in Hamburg publicizing the German translation of A Most Wanted Man. It is near a section on the US "War on Terror," but I think it applies to who we are in the 21st century:

I miss your father every day, but especially at moments like this.

Ash had these thoughts about the German human rights lawyer Annabel Richter: “One small thing is that I would like a couple more descriptive touches early on to show why Annabel is attractive. She appears frumpish and only later do we discover that there is a stunner beneath the frump.” 😅

John le Carré sent historian Timothy Garton Ash a draft of A Most Wanted Man in 2008 to get advice, something he did often with the Oxford scholar.

I spent the last week researching in the John le Carré archive at the Bodleian Library for my book "A Most Angry Man: John le Carré and the War on Terror." This draft foreword for A Most Wanted Man certainly seems relevant today. I wish his infamous anti-Americanism wasn't so prescient.

As many are already pointing out, Fiona Hill testified in 2019 that Russia communicated to Trump via different channels that it wanted to trade Ukraine for Venezuela. See pages 58-9, 362-4 of the actual doc's page numbers

d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2019/...

David Cornwell, aka John le Carré, from April 2001: “The new American realism, which is nothing other than gross corporate power cloaked in demagogy, means one thing only: that America will put America first in everything. . . I think the sooner Britain and Europe wake up to that fact, the better.”

I'm beginning to think the FIFA Peace Prize is fraudulent.

I wrote about Absolute Friends and A Most Wanted Man here. And I agree about A Delicate Truth.
“John le Carré is Mr. Angry now that Smiley’s day has gone”.: Spy Fiction and the Age of Anger | Anglistica AION: An Intersciplinary Journal serena.sharepress.it/index.php/an...

“All I See Is Damage” Homeland, the Covert Sphere, and the End of the War on Terror Homeland is a chronicle of a nation traumatized by the war on terror at a time when it has grown weary of fighting it. Airing shortly after the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the raid on Osama bin Lad...

For all my intelligence studies and "war on terror" friends, I hope you like this take on Homeland.

“All I See Is Damage” Homeland, the Covert Sphere, and the End of the War on Terror - Crim - The Journal of Popular Culture - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I'm attending my first SHAFR conference in DC this week. Whatever will they talk about to fill the time? Our roundtable reunites some of us who met at the USHMM last summer to workshop projects on the US military and the Holocaust. Hope to see some of you there.

Thank you!

I'm excited to announce my new position as the Cohen Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College. I've admired the unique HGS program at Keene and the affiliate Cohen Institute for a long time. Let's collaborate!

My favorite is Tom Hollander reading A Legacy of Spies.

His voice is weaker in Agent Running in the Field, but I like hearing him knowing it's his last narration.

Science and Espionage: Fort Hunt and Prince William Forest During the Second World War The state of Virginia has played an important role in the history of the United States. It was the location of the first permanent English settlement in North America, the...

I'm excited to participate in this event about Ft. Hunt's WWII history, specifically the role German and Austrian Jewish refugees played in interrogating prominent POWs and Project Paperclip scientists.
librarycalendar.fairfaxcounty.gov/event/14294542

Dude, read a book . . .

New addition

Book: Spies, Culture, and Society: Coming in from the Cold by Simon Willmetts, Constant Hijzen (published 01-02-2026)

press.georgetown.edu/Book/Spies-Culture-and-S...

Wait until he hears about the Ritchie Boys.

Cover design for "People without History Are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust" in a rich burgundy color, with six faces on the cover, each corresponding with a chapter.

Cover reveal for People without History are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust, forthcoming in four months with @uoftpress.bsky.social
Beautiful design by Filip Kraus; the faces correspond with six of the chapters told in the book.

The true story of the secret program that brought Nazi scientists to the U.S. After World War II, Operation Paperclip quietly recruited German scientists to work on its most advanced weapons and space programs—including some who had been active in the Third Reich.

I'm glad I helped with this piece written by a fellow historian.
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

This amazing resource is now digital and searchable. Great work by some dedicated historians.
muse.jhu.edu/encyclopedia...

Keep standing up for yourself! It is inspiring. I'm tired of the constant labor expectations with zero compensation or accommodation.

McBride was my professor at JMU early in his career. He was why I wanted to be a historian. Good to know he's the same cantankerous, quality character guy I remember as an undergraduate.