FOR THEIR HELP DURING THE RESEARCH OF THIS BOOK, MY THANKS to Bernard Baverstock at the Camberley Natural History Society, Susan Benson at the Cumbria Archive and Local Studies Centre, Bernie Bickerton and Beryl Jones at the Society of Civil and Public Service Writers, Lynda Brooks at the Linnean Society, Bill Burnett of the Old Penwithians Association, Julie Carrington at the Royal Geographical Society, Lynette Cawthra and Jane Taylor at the Working Class Movement Library, Pam Champion at St. Helen and St. Katharine, Abingdon, Jackie Cheshire at Queen Square Library, Matthew Chipping at the BBC Written Archives, Tony Copsey at Suffolk Painters, Janet Dotterer at Millersville University, Elving Felix at the Library of Congress, Ruth Frendo at the University of London, Michael Frost at Yale University Library, Stewart Gillies in the News Reference Department of the British Library, Bill Gordon at Surrey Cricket Club, Jonathan Holmes at Queens’ College, Cambridge, Jeff Howarth at the TUC Library Collections, Debbie Hunt at the Royal Microscopical Society, Gill Jackson at Robert Hale, Frances Johnson at Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre, Val McAtear at the Royal Entomological Society, Carole McCallum and Simon Docherty at Glasgow Caledonian University, Owen McKnight at Jesus College, Oxford, Emma Milnes at the Zoological Society of London, Joanne Morgan at the Daily Mail, Kate Nivison at London Writer Circle, Jonathan Oates at Ealing Local History, Hellen Pethers at the Natural History Museum, Kieren Pitts at the Amateur Entomologists’ Society, Anne-Marie Purcell at Hammersmith and Fulham Local Studies and Archives, Michael Riordan at St. John’s and The Queen’s Colleges, Oxford, Karen Robson at University of Southampton, Chris Schuler at the Authors’ Club, Rowena Siorvanes at Falmouth University, Laurence Spring at Surrey History Centre, John Squier at Normandy Historians, Richard Temple at Senate House Library, Darren Treadwell at the People’s History Museum, Daniel Warren at Stamford Endowed Schools, Helen Wicker at Kent History and Library Centre, Robert Winckworth and Dan Mitchell at University College London, Andy Wood at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Liz Wood and Helen Ford at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick, Oliver Wooller at Bexley Heritage and Archives Services, Claire Yelland and Sarah Jane at Camborne School of Mines, and all the staff at the National Archives in Kew and the British Library.
I am even more grateful to the relatives of the main characters in this book for taking the time to talk, or else pointing me in the right direction, in particular Harry Smith, for his many insights into the world of his uncle, as well as Ian Aitken, Charlotte Brady, Ian Calder, John Dickson, Anne Dobson, Dominic Dobson, Fiona Gray, Richard Gray, Carolyn Hirst, Valerie Lippay, Crista MacDonald, Stephen and Karen Mackie, Anne Maude, Belinda Mayne, Penny Parsley, Neil Roach, Tony Taylor, Caroline Thistlethwaite, and Gregory Wolcough.
My thanks also to those who have corresponded with me or in other ways helped to shed light on the many lives of Maxwell Knight and his agents: Christopher Andrew, David Attenborough, Francis Beckett, Barry Buitekant, Paul Connell, John Cooper, Margaret Cooper, David Cornwell, Ted Crawford, Stephen Dorril, Richard Dove, Tom Everard, Naresh Fernandes, Andy Goodall, Ben Gummer, George Hewson, Frank James, Neil Kent, Charles Knight, Thomas Linehan, Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lycett, Giles Milton, Kate Marris, Lindsay Merriman, Nick Merriman, Rosie Merriman, Desmond Morris, Peter Pugh, Kevin Quinlan, Scott Reeve, Richard Ritchie, Laurence Scales, Adam Sisman, Graham Stevenson, Willie Thompson, David Turner, William Tyrer, Sally Wade-Gery, Francis Wheen, and Paul Willetts. I owe particular thanks to Rupert Allason, for his thoughts on the manuscript, and to Rob Hutton, for his insights into Eric Roberts and for many enjoyable evenings spent talking shop. Finally, I’d like to thank those former intelligence officers from both MI5 and MI6 who were able to enrich my understanding of Maxwell Knight and the art of recruiting and running agents.
At PublicAffairs, I am eternally grateful to both Clive Priddle, who first suggested the idea of this book, and to Ben Adams, for his consistently shrewd and imaginative input, as well as Melissa Raymond and Melissa Veronesi for all their help, and to Christina Palaia for her elegant and skillful copyediting. At Preface, I am indebted to Lizzy Gaisford for her assistance and to Trevor Dolby, for his excellent advice and friendship.
My agent, Jonathan Conway, has been involved at every stage of this book and I can’t thank him enough for his expert judgment and the faith he has shown in this story. My thanks also to Gemma Hirst, Katie Snaydon, and Jean Kitson for all their help on the film and television side of things.
Last of all my thanks to Dad and Bea, for taking the time to look at the manuscript and offer all sorts of useful advice, and to Helena, for her support, her inimitable sense of how to shape a story, and her love. The last person to thank is my very own M, Matilda Hemming, born at around the same time that I began to write this book, whose first words may not have been “Max Knight”—but not far off. Like all the most interesting characters in this story, she strikes me as being one of life’s watchers. This book is dedicated to her.