The Cañada Blanch Centre at LSE welcomes a new event with prize-winning author & journalist and LSE alumnus Jimmy Burns-Marañon, OBE (Chairman of the BritishSpanish Society) on his latest book A Faithful Spy:The Life & Times of a MI6 and MI5 Officer.
The event will consist on a conversation between Mr. Burns-Marañon, OBE and Prof. Rodriguez-Pose on the main points of interest of the book, followed by Q&A from the floor.
A Financial Times Readers’ Book of the Year.
The subject Walter Bell studied at the LSE, in the early 1930’s, before being recruited by British intelligence and sent on his first posting to New York. Bell was as the heart of the emerging special relationship between Britain and the US before, during, and immediately after WW2-the very time that MI6 had been penetrated by Russian intelligence. He was acquainted with three of the Cambridge spies-Philby,Burgess and Maclean.
Moving to MI5, Bell had postings in Kenya, India and the West Indies playing a crucial role in the passing of power to newly independent states and a developing close ties with agents of influence from journalists and judges to generals and independence heroes.
Back home, he was intimately involved in operations to limit the reputation damage provoked by the media outcry over the Cambridge spy affair and helped counter suspected KGB misinformation about further alleged Soviet agents at the highest level of the British state. He was rewarded for his service with a CMG and the US Medal of Freedom.
‘A must read for those interested in a personal drama at the frontline of international relations,’ Dr Calder Walton, Ph.D. Cambridge University , Harvard Kennedy School, Intelligence & National Security, Author of SPIES, Former Attorney (Barrister)
‘A remarkable, never disclosed story…’ Professor Peter Hennessy, author & journalist, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London
‘An important book which uniquely describes the any faceted career of an important cog in the UK’s intelligence and security machinery through events of the 20th century,’ Sir Ricard Dearlove, Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) 1999-2004
‘The book is well written…A Faithful Spy makes for a welcome addition to the existing histography of international relations during the twentieth century, and of the British secret state.’ Dr Paul Winter, Times Literary Supplement.
Meet our speaker and chair
Jimmy Burns-Marañon, OBE (Jimmy Burns-Marañon) was born in Madrid , and was educated at Stonyhurst College, University College (London) (BA in Modern Iberian & Latin American Studies), and LSE (MA in Politics & Government). He is a former Financial Times journalist where he worked as a foreign correspondent and a senior reporters covering security and intelligence, and formed part of the newspaper’s award-winning investigative unit. He has contributed to international media across print, TV, radio, and digital platforms. His books published in English and translations, include his prize-winning The Land that its Heroes: How Argentina Lost the Falklands War, A Literary Companion to Spain, The Hand of God:a biography of Diego Maradona, Barca, A People’s Passion, Cristiano & Leo, and A Pope of Good Promise.
Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (Andrés Rodríguez-Pose) is the Princesa de Asturias Chair and a Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. He is the Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre LSE. He is a former Head of the Department of Geography and Environment between 2006 and 2009. He is a past-President of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) (2015-2017) and served as Vice-President of the RSAI in 2014. He was also Vice-President (2012-2013) and Secretary (2001-2005) of the European Regional Science Association.
More about this event
The Cañada-Blanch Centre at LSE is the vehicle to achieve the objective of the Fundación Cañada Blanch: developing and reinforcing the links between the United Kingdom and Spain. This is done by means of fostering cutting-edge knowledge generation and joint research projects between researchers in the United Kingdom, and at LSE in particular, on the one hand, and Spain, on the other.
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