A Spy Alone

"So my first novel, A Spy Alone , is about a group of spies, a bit like the Cambridge Five I alluded to earlier, but being recruited in the 1990s in Oxford. And yes, there are theories out there. I want to clarify that I sat down and wrote the story as it came to me, as a work of imagination, but I was aware that the rumors existed. I didn’t take a theory and then write the story, but I’m aware of what’s out there. So the book is a work of my imagination, but I hope it feels realistic in the sense that there are people in our society who have these strange relationships with Russia, whose loyalties it’s hard to fully understand. Also, we know that Russia has persistently sought to interfere not just in Britain’s politics, but in the U.S., France, Italy, Romania, you name it. In a way, it’s not a surprise that it’s possible that some of the things that I describe as fiction might have happened in real life. I think my life is more enjoyable and pleasant, and that I have better relationships and all that sort of thing. But I think the world view that he has—which is a bit cynical and informed by the betrayal and dishonesty that’s at the heart of espionage—I probably share some of that. It’s a necessary part of it; I’m not making a judgment. I’m just describing it. The books are only very slightly autobiographical, I’d say."

"A Spy Alone is a debut novel by Charles Beaumont (not his real name), an ex-MI6 operative. Everyone knows about the Cambridge spy ring from the 1950s. His premise was, ‘What if there was one in Oxford?’ When I first heard about the book, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know if this is really going to work for me,’ but then I realised he’s setting it in the modern day. The first question I had as a reader was, ‘Why on earth would anyone want to be a spy for Putin right now?’ In the days of Philby — love him or loathe him — there was ideology: they were all fervent antifascist communists. Philby was still a traitorous so-and-so, with a lot of blood on his hands, but he had an ideology. I wondered, ‘How is Beaumont going to create a spy ring that’s believable?’ I don’t want to go down Spoiler Straße — and that’s always very tricky, talking about spy thrillers, because they’re always going to have lots of twists and turns — but he’s given reasons why some of these Oxford students would be working for Russia, and these are actually very credible. It’s not a surprise when you look at Charles Beaumont’s background — the little that he’s shared. He has served in war-torn places, and he’s seen how things have gone down. He’s taken his geopolitical knowledge and created these characters. I really like what he’s done with it. You have a professor based at Oxford who’s basically a spotter for talent, looking for people who might be able to serve Russia. The main protagonist is an ex-spy, who has left the service and is down on his luck a bit, financially. There’s a lot of tradecraft. The detailed descriptions of spy techniques provide an educational aspect to the reading experience. I’m a fan of the classic espionage novel where the spy has to rely on his or her guile and cunning and wit, rather than a gun of some sort or the instant cavalry arriving, and that’s what you get. There is a scene very early on in the book where we get the protagonist’s backstory. He’s giving a speech to a private concern on security, and he says, ‘This is the speech he really wished he could have given’ and he talks about his background in the intelligence services. That was a really good way of covering a lot of the backstory. The political among us will be trying to guess who the characters in the book are based on. I don’t want to say their names because I don’t want to get sued and I don’t want to ruin the book, but it’s fun trying to guess who everyone in the Oxford Spy ring could be."