Highlights of the Week [#1]
- Poem Spotlight!
- Movie Recommendation
- Book Recommendation
- Photo of the Week
- Video of the Week
- Support the site by making a donation
Poem Spotlight!
A special thank you to the R|cardo / C|pher for the wonderful poem titled Lazarus. I’ve read it a few times, and it sticks with me. I also really enjoy the admiring the accompanying artwork. I hope you enjoy the poem as much as I have, along with other works by this prolific, talented poet.
https://rcipher.wordpress.com/2022/11/26/c-90/
Movie Recommendation
The Bansheess of Inisherin – Starring reuniting cast members Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson once again teaming up with In Bruges director Martin McDonagh in this drama come comedy black fiction movie of a friendship gone sour. https://psychedelicwizard.uk/2022/11/18/banshees-of-inisherin/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_banshees_of_inisherin – Rotten Tommatoes rated it a whopping 98%! Worth a watch. A Friday or Saturday night easy to view movie with dark undetones.
Book Recommendation
A Spy Named Orphan – The Enigma of Donald Maclean – Roland Phillips – The true-life account of notorious spy Donald Maclean through World War 2, through the cold war and beyond. Focused on the nefarious ‘Cambridge 5’ spy ring.
An interesting, step by step documentation of the life of Donald Maclean, the British student turned communist fanatic. He infiltrated the highest levels of government, worked with the secret service, the USA, in Cairo and more before finally being found, some couple of decades after his infiltration and double agent status had begun.
During this time, he stole incredible amounts of information and passed it to the soviet state of Russia. Stalin regarded him as his best agent. He betrayed his home country, England because of his disillusionment with capitalism.
A recommended non-fiction book. It is a little light on details however from a broad history point of view does cover a significant amount of time and space, documenting the double agent’s crazy alcohol binged nights and his deadly rage as he grew increasingly uncomfortable living his double life.
There are plenty of espionage novels on the market, and an abundance surrounding WW2 and the Cold War. You can enjoy factual and fictitious writings. An honourable mention would of course be the John Le Carre novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – still superior to a lot of books in the same genre after all this time.
Photo of the Week
Video of the Week
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psychedelicwizard 
Do read Bill Fairclough’s fact based spy thriller, Beyond Enkription, the first stand-alone novel of six in The Burlington Files series.
Intentionally misspelt, Beyond Enkription is a must read for espionage illuminati. It’s a raw noir matter of fact pacy novel. Len Deighton and Mick Herron could be forgiven for thinking they co-wrote it. Coincidentally, a few critics have nicknamed its protagonist “a posh Harry Palmer.”
It is a true story about a maverick accountant, Bill Fairclough (MI6 codename JJ) aka Edward Burlington in Porter Williams International (in real life Coopers & Lybrand now PwC). In the 1970s in London he infiltrated organised crime gangs, unwittingly working for MI6. After some frenetic attempts on his life he was relocated to the Bahamas where, “eyes wide open” he was recruited by the CIA and headed for shark infested waters off Haiti.
If you’re an espionage cognoscente you’ll love this monumental book. In real life Bill Fairclough was recruited by MI6’s unorthodox Colonel Alan Brooke Pemberton CVO MBE and thereafter they worked together on and off into the 1990s. You can find out more about Pemberton’s People (who even included Winston Churchill’s bodyguard) in an article dated 31 October 2022 on The Burlington Files website.
This epic is so real it made us wonder why bother reading espionage fiction when facts are so much more exhilarating. Whether you’re a le Carré connoisseur, a Deighton disciple, a Fleming fanatic, a Herron hireling or a Macintyre marauder, odds on once you are immersed in it you’ll read this titanic production twice. For more detailed reviews visit the Reviews page on TheBurlingtonFiles website or see other independent reviews on your local Amazon website and check out Bill Fairclough’s background on the web.
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Thank you for that recommendation. It certainly sounds like something I would be interested in reading. Fortunately there is no lack of used books where I live so I can have a look during the week for a second hand copy. Given my love of Fleming and Le Carré and spy/espionage in general I am certainly always on the lookout for that ‘special’ read. The Donald Maclean story was fascinating, albeit a little disheartening that someone could betray their country like this.
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You may be able to read the eBook for free depending upon your Amazon account status – or try your local library – or see what’s going on Book Finder – https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ref=sre¤cy=GBP&lang=en&destination=gb&title=Beyond%20Enkription&st=sr&ac=qr – Best wishes
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