“When did you last eat?” The woman’s voice was kindly yet matter-of-fact. The calm way her eyes rose from the paperwork to meet his suggested the case held no surprises for her. “The day before yesterday.” William Stokes invested the reply with the measured control, all self-pity suppressed, he’d cultivated…

I confess: I was always going to be personally, professionally and critically supportive of this engaging and intriguing novel. For between all the various British, American and Soviet spies who populate this book, the real hero is……Harold Wilson. I’ve had a soft spot for the maligned (maligned that is by right-wingers and…