Matthew Dunn (author)

Last updated

Matthew Howard Dunn (born 25 November 1968) is a British spy novelist, media talent, creative adviser, and former MI6 intelligence officer. [1] According to his publicists his time in the intelligence services included experience with specialized units of the British SAS, including 'The Increment' and SBS as well as joint operations with MI5, GCHQ, the CIA, and BND. [2]

Contents

Biography

He read politics and economics at the University of East Anglia, before undertaking a PhD in international relations at the University of Cambridge. [3]

Dunn was the recipient of a personal commendation from the Secretary of State For Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs for his actions on a mission, which was deemed so significant that it directly influenced the success of a major international incident. [4]

Works

Novels

Related Research Articles

<i>James Bond</i> Media franchise about a British spy

The James Bond series focuses on the titular character, a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd, and Anthony Horowitz. The latest novel is With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2022. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.

Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure, the thriller and the politico-military thriller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Fleming</span> British author (1908–1964)

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosamund Pike</span> British actress (born 1979)

Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike is an English actress. Pike studied at Wadham College, Oxford and began her acting career by appearing in stage productions including Romeo and Juliet at the National Youth Theatre. She had her breakthrough for her film debut as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day (2002), and had supporting roles in the period dramas The Libertine (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), An Education (2009) and Made in Dagenham (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambridge Five</span> British ring of spies for the Soviet Union

The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during the Second World War and the Cold War and was active from the 1930s until at least the early 1950s. None of the known members was ever prosecuted for spying. The number and membership of the ring emerged slowly, from the 1950s onwards.

M is a codename held by a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond book and film series; the character is the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service for the agency known as MI6. Fleming based the character on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as appearing in twenty-four films. In the Eon Productions series of films, M has been portrayed by four actors: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes, the incumbent; in the two independent productions, M was played by John Huston, David Niven and Edward Fox.

<i>Alex Rider</i> Spy novel series by Anthony Horowitz

Alex Rider is a series of spy novels by the English author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around a teenage spy named Alex Rider and is primarily aimed towards young adults. The series currently comprises 14 novels, as well as six graphic novels, seven short stories, and a supplementary book.

Peter Maurice Wright CBE was a principal scientific officer for MI5, the British counter-intelligence agency. His book Spycatcher, written with Paul Greengrass, became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies. Spycatcher was part memoir, part exposé detailing what Wright claimed were serious institutional failures he investigated within MI5. Wright is said to have been influenced in his counterespionage activity by James Jesus Angleton, counter-intelligence chief of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1954 to 1975.

A number of real-life inspirations have been suggested for James Bond, the fictional character created in 1953 by British author, journalist and former Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming (1908–1964); Bond appeared in twelve novels and nine short stories by Fleming, as well as a number of continuation novels and twenty-six films, with seven actors playing the role of Bond.

<i>Casino Royale</i> (novel) 1953 novel by Ian Fleming, the first James Bond book

Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. Published in 1953, it is the first James Bond book, and it paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapman Pincher</span> English journalist (1914–2014)

Henry Chapman Pincher was an English journalist, historian and novelist whose writing mainly focused on espionage and related matters, after some early books on scientific subjects.

<i>Dr. No</i> (film) 1962 James Bond film directed by Terence Young

Dr. No is a 1962 spy film directed by Terence Young. It is the first film in the James Bond series. Starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman and Jack Lord, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather from the 1958 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, a partnership that continued until 1975. It was followed by From Russia with Love in 1963. In the film, James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow British agent. The trail leads him to the underground base of Dr. Julius No, who is plotting to disrupt an early American space launch from Cape Canaveral with a radio beam weapon.

Spycatcher is a book by former MI5 officer Peter Wright

<i>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</i> (film) 2011 film based on John le Carrés novel

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 2011 Cold War spy thriller film directed by Tomas Alfredson. The screenplay was written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, based on John le Carré's 1974 novel of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast including Gary Oldman as George Smiley, with Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciarán Hinds, David Dencik and Kathy Burke. It is set in London in the early 1970s and follows the hunt for a Soviet double agent at the top of the British secret service.

<i>Skyfall</i> 2012 James Bond film by Sam Mendes

Skyfall is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the villain, with Judi Dench returning as M. Directed by Sam Mendes and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan, the film has Bond investigating a series of targeted data leaks and co-ordinated attacks on MI6 led by Silva. It sees the return of two recurring characters, Miss Moneypenny and Q, after an absence of two films. Ralph Fiennes, Bérénice Marlohe, and Albert Finney are among the supporting cast.

<i>Solo</i> (Boyd novel) James Bond continuation novel by William Boyd

Solo is a James Bond continuation novel written by William Boyd. It was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 26 September 2013 in hardback, e-book and audio editions, and in the US by HarperCollins on 8 October 2013.

<i>Alex Rider</i> (TV series) 2020 British spy thriller television series

Alex Rider is a British spy thriller television series based on the novel series of the same name by Anthony Horowitz. Adapted by Guy Burt, it stars Otto Farrant as the eponymous character, who is recruited by a subdivision of MI6 as a teenage spy to infiltrate places that others are unable to. The series is Amazon's first scripted British Amazon Original series. The show is jointly produced by Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television, and is the second screen adaptation of the novels, following the 2006 feature film version of the first novel, Stormbreaker.

<i>Argylle</i> 2024 film by Matthew Vaughn

Argylle is a 2024 spy action comedy film directed and produced by Matthew Vaughn, and written by Jason Fuchs. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. Its plot centers on a reclusive author who is drawn into the world of spies and espionage after she realizes that a new spy novel she is writing mirrors real-world events.

E Squadron, formerly the Increment, is a British paramilitary unit tasked with conducting covert operations, paramilitary operations and others at the behest of the Director Special Forces and Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service. Its members are selected from the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF), Defence Intelligence and are trained and tasked with carrying out operations in close contact with the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6.

References

  1. Jacket blurb, Spycatcher (2011).
  2. "Meet the spy who is harder than James Bond". The Telegraph. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  3. "Meet the spy who is harder than James Bond". The Daily Telegraph . 18 October 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  4. "undefined". Fox News. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Matthew Dunn". www.fantasticfiction.com. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  6. The Kill House. Independently published. 20 October 2021. ISBN   979-8-7507-2696-7.
  7. The Spy Thief: 5. Independently published. 5 August 2021. ISBN   979-8-5485-6948-6.