Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a British intelligence officer and a spy for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secrets to the Soviets during World War II and in the early stages of the Cold War. Of the five, Philby is believed to have been most successful in providing secret information to the Soviets.
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.
The Cambridge Five were 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 were ever prosecuted for spying. The number and membership of the ring emerged slowly, from the 1950s onwards.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1974 spy novel by British-Irish author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received critical acclaim for its complex social commentary—and, at the time, relevance, following the defection of Kim Philby. It has been adapted into both a television series and a film, and remains a staple of the spy fiction genre.
James Jesus Angleton was an American intelligence operative who served as chief of counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1954 to 1975. According to Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms, Angleton was "recognized as the dominant counterintelligence figure in the non-communist world".
Sir Dick Goldsmith White, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director General (DG) of MI5 from 1953 to 1956, and Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1956 to 1968.
Bill Haydon is a fictional character created by John le Carré who features in le Carré's 1974 novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He is a senior officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service who serves as a Soviet mole. The novel follows aging spymaster George Smiley's endeavours to uncover the mole. The character is partly modelled after the real-life double agent Kim Philby, part of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring in Britain, who defected to the USSR in 1963.
Daniel Silva is an American journalist and author of thriller and spy novels.
Alice Friedmann, known as Litzi Friedmann, was an Austrian Communist who was the first wife of Kim Philby, a member of the Cambridge Five. Records identify her as the Soviet agent with the code name Mary.
Flora Solomon, OBE was an influential Zionist. The first woman hired to improve working conditions at Marks & Spencer in London, Solomon was later instrumental in the exposure of British spy Kim Philby. She was the mother of Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International. She described her "personal trinity" as "Russian soul, Jewish heart, British passport".
Gabriel Allon is the main protagonist in Daniel Silva's thriller and espionage series that focuses on Israeli intelligence. The main characters refer to their employer as 'the Office', although it is not specified that it is Mossad. Allon's career began in 1972 when he, Eli Lavon and several others were plucked from civilian life by Ari Shamron to participate in Operation Wrath of God, an act of vengeance to hunt down and eliminate those responsible for killing the Israeli athletes in Munich. Wrath of God is referenced in the books throughout the course of his life.
The Rembrandt Affair is a 2010 spy novel by Daniel Silva. It is the tenth in the Gabriel Allon series, based in the world of Israeli intelligence.
The Fallen Angel is a 2012 spy novel by Daniel Silva. It is the twelfth in Gabriel Allon series.
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6, is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence in support of the UK's national security. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary.
The Heist is a 2014 spy novel by Daniel Silva. It is the fourteenth in the Gabriel Allon series. It was released in July 2014 and within two weeks was a New York Times Bestseller. It focused on the recovery of stolen art work.
Under Fire is a political thriller novel, written by Grant Blackwood and released on June 16, 2015. It is the seventh book in the Jack Ryan Jr. series, which is part of the overall Tom Clancy universe, as well as Blackwood's first solo contribution to the franchise. In the novel, Ryan must choose between his country and his mysterious friend Seth Gregory, who is involved in Dagestan's struggle for independence from the Russian Federation. The book debuted at number four on the New York Times bestseller list.
The English Spy is the fifteenth in Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series. It was released on June 30, 2015, and reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list on July 19. With the ever-changing political climate, he faces challenges in writing an Israeli protagonist.
The Cellist is the twenty first title in Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series. It was released on July 13, 2021 and subsequently reached No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and No. 4 on that of the Los Angeles Times. The book draws heavily from the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 American presidential election as well as the U.S. Capitol events of January 6, 2021. In addition to Allon and his stable of Israeli intelligence agents, The Cellist also features previous characters including Sarah Bancroft and Christopher Keller in Allon's quest to get retribution against Russia.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman is the twenty fifth novel by Daniel Silva. It was released on July 19, 2022, and as with others in Silva's Allon series is a New York Times bestseller.
The Collector is a 2023 novel by Daniel Silva in the author's Gabriel Allon series. The book debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book's premise is the current location of Vermeer's The Concert, which has been missing since the painting was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
