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Stars and Spies
A vastly entertaining and unique history of spying and showbiz, from the Elizabethan age to the Cold War and beyond.Throughout history, there has been a lively crossover between show business and espionage. While one relies on publicity and the other on secrecy both require high levels of creative thinking, improvisation, disguise and role-play. This crossover has produced some of the most extraordinary undercover agents and, occasionally, disastrous and dangerous failures.Stars and Spies is the first history of the interplay between the two worlds, written by two experts in their fields. We travel back to the golden age of theatre and intelligence in the reign of Elizabeth I and onwards into the Restoration. We visit Civil War America, Tsarist Russia and fin de siècle Paris where some writers, actors and entertainers become vital agents, while others are put under surveillance.And as the story moves through the twentieth century and beyond, showbiz provides essential cover for agents to gather information while hiding in plain sight. At the same time, spying enters mainstream popular culture, in books, film and on TV.Starring an astonishing cast including Christopher Marlowe, Aphra Behn, Voltaire, Mata Hari, Harpo Marx, Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Noel Coward, Alexander Korda, John le Carré and many others, Stars and Spies is a highly enjoyable examination of the fascinating links between the intelligence services and show business.
512 pages, Hardcover
Published October 13, 2021
About the author
Christopher Andrew
52 books159 followersChristopher Maurice Andrew, FRHistS is an Emeritus Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Cambridge with an interest in international relations and in particular the history of intelligence services. (military.wikia.org)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 25, 2021
Any book on spies by Christopher Andrew will be of interest to any history or politics buff and this history of the interface between branches of entertainment and the spy craft is no different. As a caveat, though, the level of detail, not to mention actual facts, grows as the book approaches the more modern world. As a result, the interest of this book is relatively limited in its earlier chapters, but it becomes more engrossing later, albeit that some of the detail, especially around WWII, has featured in previous books. Still, this is a recommended read for anyone interested in the spying game and how it draws in players from other sectors. Writers who were spies, or spies who became writers, abound. Perhaps this shows a commanality in their worlds of fiction and make believe.
July 19, 2022
I received this book as a Christmas gift, and since then have been like a snake that swallowed something too large and is lying in the sun digesting it. This is a large book, comprehensive in its own way (it covers the early modern period to the present but is only interested in the UK, the US, and to a lesser degree their allies or opponents).
At some point when it was still winter and I was reading under a cozy throw blanket, I became becalmed in the reign of Queen Anne and read a few other books before I was able to get going with this one again. The same happened when I headed out on a vacation and had to factor weight into my packing; I got distracted with a passel of other books. This book generally lacks forward momentum due to the absence of people or projects that endure very long among its pages that cover centuries of history. It ends up feeling anecdotal, offering a sampling of spy stories that do have a common thread (the entertainment industry) without really delving into what the two themes have to do with each other. We've all met someone like this--they have dozens of stories and some are a bit boring but every once in a while you hit a good one. You just have to be in the right mood.
At some point when it was still winter and I was reading under a cozy throw blanket, I became becalmed in the reign of Queen Anne and read a few other books before I was able to get going with this one again. The same happened when I headed out on a vacation and had to factor weight into my packing; I got distracted with a passel of other books. This book generally lacks forward momentum due to the absence of people or projects that endure very long among its pages that cover centuries of history. It ends up feeling anecdotal, offering a sampling of spy stories that do have a common thread (the entertainment industry) without really delving into what the two themes have to do with each other. We've all met someone like this--they have dozens of stories and some are a bit boring but every once in a while you hit a good one. You just have to be in the right mood.
June 5, 2022
Books about spies are like catnip for me, as you may or may not have noticed. This one looks at connections between espionage shenanigans and the world of entertainment, a very interesting angle to take and one for which the authors have accumulated plenty of material to work from. Covering intelligence operations from Elizabethan England to the modern day, this was quite a fascinating read.
September 9, 2023
A fun book with a broad historical sweep for those who like, well, stars and spies. And who doesn't? We learn about spies from Elizabethan England to the modern day, and celebrities from almost that wide a time period. The only complaint I have is that, in order to get all the way up to the present day the authors had to accelerate rapidly in the 20th century, and especially the 21st. Now, there is a lot more information available elsewhere on more recent times, but still the treatment of modern-day espionage from the US/UK side to China and Russia felt a bit cursory. Great stories are picked up, and dropped, sometimes within a paragraph. It might have been billed as an encyclopedia, if those items were still in fashion. The entries could have been alphabetical as well as chronological. Still, it's a minor complaint, and one the authors address clearly from the start. So, unlike the dupes that fall into the honey traps of both sides of the Atlantic, and Asia too, we can't say we weren't warned.
May 29, 2022
Points for breadth, I guess. Stars and Spies covers five centuries of the close link between the entertainment industry and spy craft. The book begins with Petrus Alamire, a travelling troubadour, who was paid by Henry VIII to spy on a cousin in Germany. But he was a double agent, as were so many of his successors.
Given the combination of two sometimes glamorous professions, this is an extremely dull book. I’m sure the authors didn’t want to leave out a single story, so we get, for instance, Christopher Marlowe’s spy career, every Shakespeare reference to spying (spoiler alert: a lot), and Ben Jonson’s hatred of spies… and so on and on and on, ending with The Americans.
I read it because my honey got it at Shakespeare and Co in Paris and we had a lot of long train journeys in Europe. But I do not recommend!
Given the combination of two sometimes glamorous professions, this is an extremely dull book. I’m sure the authors didn’t want to leave out a single story, so we get, for instance, Christopher Marlowe’s spy career, every Shakespeare reference to spying (spoiler alert: a lot), and Ben Jonson’s hatred of spies… and so on and on and on, ending with The Americans.
I read it because my honey got it at Shakespeare and Co in Paris and we had a lot of long train journeys in Europe. But I do not recommend!
July 2, 2023
This book just about covered everyone and everything that had even the vaguest connections to spying and the entertainment business from Elizabethan England to the present day.
At first I thought it might be a bit shallow with such cursory glances over the subjects, but that didn’t really transpire and there was still enough meat in the matter to keep things interesting and not become superficial.
I particularly enjoyed sub chapters on subjects and people of interest that I personally admire or take a particular interest in like Brendan Behan.
The book kept me thoroughly entertained throughout and even although it’s a sizable tome, I zipped through it in a week which seemed like no time at all!
I'd also covered a fair bit of the same ground in other more dedicated books on the individuals and subjects highlighted here, but yet it never comes across as repetitive or a regurgitation of another authors work.
Thoroughly researched and told with unbiased precision with a good smattering of wit and humour throughout!
At first I thought it might be a bit shallow with such cursory glances over the subjects, but that didn’t really transpire and there was still enough meat in the matter to keep things interesting and not become superficial.
I particularly enjoyed sub chapters on subjects and people of interest that I personally admire or take a particular interest in like Brendan Behan.
The book kept me thoroughly entertained throughout and even although it’s a sizable tome, I zipped through it in a week which seemed like no time at all!
I'd also covered a fair bit of the same ground in other more dedicated books on the individuals and subjects highlighted here, but yet it never comes across as repetitive or a regurgitation of another authors work.
Thoroughly researched and told with unbiased precision with a good smattering of wit and humour throughout!
May 10, 2024
I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I feel misled. I was expecting romantic and thrilling History, instead I found this so tedious.
It reminded me of an undergraduate dissertation, trying to cover a million topics and hiding its dull nature behind an overly punchy title and presentation.
The authors write at length but I feel that they failed to find any unique insights. I hoped they would offer up interesting titbits, memorable quotes ect. Instead this seemed to me to be a stodgy steed covering from the Elizabethan era to today, strung together by the mention of espionage every now and then.
I thought this would be niche but it was hopelessly overstretched
It reminded me of an undergraduate dissertation, trying to cover a million topics and hiding its dull nature behind an overly punchy title and presentation.
The authors write at length but I feel that they failed to find any unique insights. I hoped they would offer up interesting titbits, memorable quotes ect. Instead this seemed to me to be a stodgy steed covering from the Elizabethan era to today, strung together by the mention of espionage every now and then.
I thought this would be niche but it was hopelessly overstretched
December 1, 2021
No está mal pero no es lo que esperaba, ya que es la historia de la unión del espionaje y del mundo del cine, de la televisión y de la música.
Pero no entra para nada en los casos concretos de espionaje, ni relata ninguna historia de traición o de contraespionaje.
Pero no entra para nada en los casos concretos de espionaje, ni relata ninguna historia de traición o de contraespionaje.
April 23, 2022
Comprehensive and authoritative guide to the often surprising links between the worlds of espionage and entertainment
January 20, 2024
really enjoyed this. I was in the media business most of my life and never knew...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews