Ian Fleming's 'Thrilling Cities' On BBC Radio 4

The James Bond website MI6, not to be confused with the British intelligence agency, reports that BBC Radio 4 is offering a reading of Ian Fleming's travel book, Thrilling cities.

In 1959, Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, was commissioned by the Sunday Times to explore some of the world's most exotic cities. Travelling to the Far East and then to America, he left the bright main streets for the back alleys, abandoning tourist sites in favour of underground haunts, and mingling with celebrities, gangsters and geishas. The result is a series of vivid snapshots of a mysterious, vanished world.

Fleming wrote, 'On November 2nd, armed with a sheaf of visas...one suitcase...and my typewriter, I left humdrum London for the thrilling cities of the world. All my life I have been interested in adventure and abroad. I have enjoyed the frisson of leaving the wide, well-lit streets and venturing up back alleys in search of the hidden, authentic pulse of towns. It was perhaps this habit that turned me into a writer of thrillers.'

In today's episode, Fleming flies to Hong Kong - the most vivid and exciting city he had ever experienced. He enjoys a massage at the hands of an expert, and his senses are enchanted by the smells of the streets at night - from the 'exciting dash of sandalwood' in a joss-stick factory to the scent of frying onions and 'sweet perspiration'.

Read by Simon Williams
Abridged by Mark Burgess

You can read the rest of the piece and link to BBC 4 via the below link:

https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/ian-fleming-s-thrilling-cities-on-bbc-radio-4-this-weekend-
170107 

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Thrilling Cities via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/10/through-thriller-writers-eyes-life-work.html 

On This Day In History Bond Movie 'Goldfinger' Featured Aston Martin

As History.com notes, on this day in 1965 Goldfinger opened and the James Bond film, based on Ian Fleming's novel, featured the Aston Martin (with some notable special features).

On this day in 1965, the James Bond movie “Goldfinger,” which features the suave British super-spy driving an Aston Martin Silver Birch DB5 sports car, opens in theaters across the U.S. Aston Martins would go on to appear in a number of other Bond films.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bond-movie-features-aston-martin?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2017-0109-01092017&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=133804515&kx_EmailCampaignID=9143&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2017-0109-01092017&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa

My Washington Times Review Of "Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion And The Destruction Of The Japanese Navy'

My review of John Prados' Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy appeared in the Washington Times.

I didn’t much care for John Prados‘ “Vietnam: An Unwinnable War,” from the title on down. I haven’t read the anti-Vietnam War activist’s books on the CIA, but a friend who is most knowledgeable on intelligence matters called these books “rather foolish.”

Yet I tackled Mr. Prados‘ latest book, “Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy,” as I have a strong interest in the October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf, an engagement that has been called the largest and perhaps the greatest naval battle in history. I’m also interested in the naval battle as my late father, a U.S. Navy UDT frogman, participated in the invasion of the Philippines.

Other historians have covered this famous battle extensively in their books, including Samuel Elliot Morison and John Toland, but Mr. Prados provides the most up-to-date information from diaries, recently released government documents, declassified intelligence reports, and postwar interrogation transcripts.

He also offers more information than most books on the key role of intelligence in the battle. I found his passages on the Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Ocean Area (JICPOA), called the “Zoo,” the Fleet Radio Unit Pacific (FRUPAC), and other intelligence units to be most interesting.

“The focus here on intelligence opened the door to a huge array of information that was unknown or poorly understood. That carried us a considerable way towards providing a fresh view of this crucial battle,” Mr. Prados writes. 

The heroes of the sea battle are the gallant and bold sailors and pilots who fought on aircraft carriers and other ships, but this book also offers the contributions of unsung heroes — the intelligence officers, Japanese linguists, cryptologists and radiomen who provided the American commanders with critical information about the Japanese Navy.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link: 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/8/book-review-storm-over-leyte-the-philippine-invasi/  

‘James Bond Was Not Sexist’, Claims Professor: James Bond Was Not A Misogynistic Dinosaur But A Sensual “Stylish Commando” Who Valued Strong, Independent Women With A 21st Century Attitude To Sex, A New Book Claims.

Camilla Tominey at the British newspaper the Sunday Express offers a piece on a new book that claims Ian Fleming's iconic fictional character James Bond is misunderstood.

The study of 007’s character found that much criticism of Ian Fleming’s spy is misplaced, partly due to his depiction in films.

Although written in the 1950s and 60s, in the original Bond books, 007 admires female partners who are not only as sexually liberated and demanding as him, but independent, resourceful and able to help him defeat villains.

Author Professor Jeremy Black of the University of Exeter said: “Bond was a very modern man for the 1950s. This was the pre-pill age, but he admires women who offer sex, femininity and masculinity. His women are in dependent and driven.

"He is a far more complex and interesting character in the books than in the films. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/751371/James-Bond-007-not-sexist-new-book 

Inside The KGB Playbook To Recruit Americans

Michael Weiss at the Daily Beast offers a piece on the old KGB manual used to recruiet Americans during the Cold War.

In studying Americans, our Residency in Italy identified a number of places visited by Americans working in target installations of interest to our Intelligence Service. It was possible to determine that Americans in Rome systematically frequent the same bars, restaurants, and places of recreation. Americans feel almost at home in these places: they drink a great deal, are very free in their conduct and frequently sing. American women, especially the wives of Americans who are away on temporary assignments, drink and have relations with other men.”

There is something almost reassuring in this observation, taken as it is from an old KGB manual on recruiting American agents both inside and outside the United States. 

Quite apart from the unintentional comedy of seeing reproduced such a dime-store psychoanalytic stereotype of the boorish and loud bourgeois abroad—whose repressed housewife of course keeps a secret rendezvous with the decanter and the swarthy Mediterranean neighbor—we have in the current age of Cold War 2.0 a helpful reminder that it used to be difficult for Russian spies to envision the lives of others. 

Today, operatives dispatched by Moscow Center are as likely to wear Breguet timepieces, keep offshore accounts, and educate their children at elite Swiss boarding schools as they are to travel by yacht or private jet to cultivate and run bureaucrats, military brass, CEOs, and real estate moguls in Davos, Chicago, and New York. 

But it wasn’t always so. There was a time, not too long ago, when operatives of the KGB were still servants of the state rather than masters of it.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/07/inside-the-kgb-playbook-to-recruit-americans.html

U.S. Nuclear Engineer Pleads Guilty To Violating The Atomic Energy Act

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Szuhsiung Ho, aka Allen Ho, 66, a naturalized U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully engage or participate in the production or development of special nuclear material outside the U.S., without the required authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in violation of the Atomic Energy Act.

Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord and U.S. Attorney Nancy Stallard Harr of the Eastern District of Tennessee made the announcement.

In April 2016, a federal grand jury issued a two-count indictment against Ho; China General Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC), the largest nuclear power company in China, and Energy Technology International (ETI), a Delaware corporation.  At the time of the indictment Ho was a nuclear engineer, employed as a consultant by CGNPC and was also the owner of ETI.   CGNPC specialized in the development and manufacture of nuclear reactors and was controlled by China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

According to documents filed in the case, beginning in 1997 and continuing through April 2016, Ho conspired with others to engage or participate in the development or production of special nuclear material in China, without specific authorization to do so from the U.S. Secretary of Energy, as required by law.  Ho assisted CGNPC in procuring U.S.-based nuclear engineers to assist CGNPC and its subsidiaries with designing and manufacturing certain components for nuclear reactors more quickly by reducing the time and financial costs of research and development of nuclear technology.  In particular, Ho sought technical assistance related to CGNPC’s Small Modular Reactor Program; CGNPC’s Advanced Fuel Assembly Program; CGNPC’s Fixed In-Core Detector System; and verification and validation of nuclear reactor-related computer codes.

Under the direction of CGNPC, Ho also identified, recruited, and executed contracts with U.S.-based experts from the civil nuclear industry who provided technical assistance related to the development and production of special nuclear material for CGNPC in China. Ho and CGNPC also facilitated the travel to China and payments to the U.S.-based experts in exchange for their services.

Sentencing has been set for May 17, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Ho faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was investigated by the FBI, Tennessee Valley Authority-Office of the Inspector General, DOE-National Nuclear Security Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from other agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles E. Atchley Jr. and Bart Slabbekorn of the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Trial Attorney Casey T. Arrowood of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Attorney Jeffrey M. Smith of the Appellate Unit in the National Security Division, represented the U.S. 

Ralph Peters: Why Trump Is Wrong to Target The U.S. Intelligence Community

Ralph Peters (seen in the above photo), a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and intelligence officer, offers his view of the U.S. intelligence community in his column at the New York Post.

Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on cyber-warfare threats — particularly those from Russia — was a welcome moment for grown-ups. Frank, honest and bipartisan, the consensus from our legislators and our intelligence-community leadership was that we face multiple grave and growing dangers, but the most-immediate and only existential threat comes from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

And yes, the Russians did attack our elections with cyber-weapons and information warfare. All our intelligence agencies agree. Which is rare.

Republican or Democrat, the senators praised the patriotism and accomplishments of those who serve in our intelligence agencies. That was welcome, too, given the political fashion of the moment to denigrate our intelligence professionals while turning backflips to excuse Putin’s strategic subversion and condone the actions of an America-hating alleged rapist, Julian Assange.

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2017/01/05/why-trump-is-wrong-to-target-the-us-intelligence-community/