Jan 31, 2004
American citizen Katrina Leung (code name “Parlor Maid”) was born in China but moved to New York (via Hong Kong) when she was 15. She was first recruited by the FBI in the late 70s and became one their top counterintelligence assets.
In 2003 Katrina was charged with being a double agent for China. Her FBI handler J.J. Smith was accused of helping her. Nobody knew they were lovers for 20 years.
One of the bureau’s top Chinese counterintelligence agents, William Cleveland, was assigned to travel to China. It turns out the Chinese are aware of his visit. Cleveland had been betrayed by Parlor Maid. What the FBI didn’t know was that Cleveland too had been her lover for three years.
Even after discovering Parlor Maid was a double agent, both FBI men continued to share classified information with her.
Frontline producer Michael Kirk says: “This film illustrates the lack of management controls, the failure of safeguards, the ‘old boy network’ and the complexities of the relationship between sources and agents that is at the heart of what the FBI does.”
Frontline/PBS documentary: “From China with Love”
Dec 30, 2003
Ian Fleming Publications have opened a website promoting Fleming’s books.
Dec 27, 2003
Central Intelligence Agency: online museum. “Unique collection” illustrating the history of US intelligence.
Dec 27, 2003
Lady X: “”Lady X” is a cooperative indie film project that we hope will be a lot of fun and will allow participating filmmakers to show their talent. The general theme is a spy/underworld thriller consisting of episodes made independently by selected filmmakers around the globe. Each episode is approximately 5 minutes long.”
Dec 7, 2003
The Observer reviews Absolute Friends by John le Carré : More Greene than Maugham, and bursting with a satirical indignation that is sometimes grimly comic, le Carré brings the thriller face to face with contemporary politics and, in the process, has once again demonstrated his mastery of his chosen genre while at the same time giving lesser, ordinary novelists a masterclass in taking nothing for granted.
Aug 7, 2003
“I wrote my first three books while I was a spook; I wrote the next thirteen after I was at large.” (Random House, le Carre Breaks his Silence)
The bleakness of John le Carré’s work attracted me at a young age. I glorified it as much as I loved the fantasy world of James Bond.
I finished The Spy Who Came In From The Cold today (again). I’d forgotten about the ending, so I kept rooting for Leamas and Liz to come through. Seems I’m favouring the Hollywood ending in my sentimental old age. Will start re-reading The Looking-Glass War tomorrow.
Jorn Barger has a Le Carré page. It leads to this fan page.
Aug 7, 2003
FBI Special Agent Robert P. Hanssen single-handedly created the greatest breach of security in the history of the United States. He says he wanted ‘to get a litttle money’, but a friend a fellow FBI agent claims what he really wanted was ‘to play the spy game better than anybody’s ever played it before.’
Aug 6, 2003
Shlomo Rosenblum (born in Odessa in 1874) was recruited by MI6 before World War I and at one time considered Britain’s most important secret agent.
He changed his name to Sidney Reilly because “In Europe, only the British hate the Irish, but everyone hates the Jews.”
Sidney Reilly was a talented actor who spoke seven languages, and an extremely confident man. This meant he was able to pass as a Russian docker or a German army officer. His exploits included saving diplomats in the jungles of South America to infiltrating the German High Command during World War I.
[Read more]
Aug 6, 2003
Mata Hari (“the eye of the day” in Bahasa Indonesia) was born Margaretha Zelle in the province of Friesland, The Netherlands. There was nothing *really* exotic about her – except that she was blackhaired and dark eyed, unique among a nation of blonde giants. She was to become one of the most famous figures of espionage.
From officer’s wife to exotic dancer to spy, read her full story at the Crime Library.
Aug 5, 2003
A dead-letter box or dead drop is “a physical location where communications, documents, or equipment is covertly placed for another person to collect with out direct contact between the parties.” (from Spy Abbreviations, Acronyms and Terminology)
How to use a dead-letter box. (from Google cache)
