So, recently I reviewed two books “about” infiltration/undercovers, and asked for suggestions. I got loads of really helpful pointers. Here is the first very rough list of additions (there were some others, mentioned in the blog post. I’ve kept track of the various people I have to thank for these tips too, but decided not to include that info here.
I need to integrate it/alphabeticise/annotate etc. Oh, and actually read some more of them and produce the paper for the conference and the activists… should keep me off the streets…
Books “about” undercovers
| Book | Author(s) | Description | Suggested by (for thanks) |
| Q | Luther Blissett | Q is a novel by Luther Blissett first published in Italian in 1999. The novel is set in Europe during the 16th century, and deals with Protestant reformation movements. | Jonathan Atkinson |
| Orkney Twilight | Clare Carson | https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/alix-long/clare-carsons-orkney-twilight_b_7233992.html? | @UndercoverNet
|
| Stealing The Future | @MaxHertzberg | Alt Future East Germany | @UndercoverNet |
| The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare | G. K. Chesterton | @UndercoverNet | |
| Naming the Dead | Ian Rankin | G8 Gleneagles shenanigans | |
| The Terrorists | Sjöwall and Wahlöö | ||
| Javelin | Roger Pearce | @BristolKRS | |
| Sweet Tooth | Ian McEwan | Sweet Tooth is a novel by the English writer Ian McEwan, published on 21 August 2012. It deals with the experiences of its protagonist, Serena Frome, during the early 1970s. After graduating from Cambridge she is recruited by MI5, and becomes involved in a covert program to combat communism by infiltrating the intellectual world. When she becomes romantically involved with her mark, complications ensue. | @UndercoverNet |
| A Legacy of Spies | John le Carré | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Legacy_of_Spies | @UndercoverNet |
| Guest | SJ Bradley, @BradleyBooks | An authentic look at anarcho-greens, anti-globalisation, the squatter movement and punk bands by someone who was clearly there | @MaxHertzberg |
| Cold Island | @MaxHertzberg | It’s over twenty-five years since Mara arrived in Britain, yet today she no longer feels safe in the country she thought she knew.
Threatened with deportation, Mara goes underground. She meets others who have made their home in the UK but are now leading lives in the half-shadows of society. Together they embark on a journey across the moors of northern England, hoping to reach relative safety in Scotland—but the officers of Immigration Enforcement are never far behind. |
@MaxHertzberg |
| Demo | Richard Allen | OH GOD AVOID THIS BOOK. | |
| The Secret Agent | Joseph Conrad | Excellent, gripping, thought-provoking | |
| Under Western Eyes | Joseph Conrad | Sadly, no | |
| Vida | Marge Piercy | READ THIS BOOK | |
| My Revolutions | Hari Kunzru
|
Really good 70s/90s stuff. Very well written, thought provoking | |
| The Invisible Circus | Jenny Egan | Also good on the consequences of violence, but not actually so much about undercovers as memory, activism etc | |
| Invisible Armies | Jon Evans | Highly competent thriller, with a corporate spying on activists thread throughout. | |
| The Weatherman Guy | Jon Burmeister | Dunno yet, but looks lurid af. | |
Films (documentaries and live action)
| Documentary- “In the inner circle”
|
The documentary “Im inneren Kreis” (English: “In the inner circle“) by Hannes Obens and Claudia Morar, which will be distributed from now on UCM.ONE (NONFY Documentaries), describes the already almost unbelievable twists of the undercover employments of Iris P. in Hamburg and Simon B. in Heidelberg. Both assignments combine fundamental ethical and political topics and questions in themselves | Sarah Arens | |
| Film – Police, Adjective | 2009 Romanian drama film directed by Corneliu Porumboiu. The movie focuses on policeman Cristi, who is investigating a teenage boy who has been smoking hashish. Over time, Cristi begins to question the ethical ramifications of his task. | Sarah Arens | |
|
Film – Ummah – among friends |
After killing two skinheads in a failed operation against neo-Nazis, young undercover intelligence agent Daniel finds a hiding place and new friends in Berlin’s Turkish Arab community. In a realistic and witty way, the German director of Turkish origin shows the rapprochement of two worlds which seem violently opposed. | Sarah Arens |
TV Shows
| TV Shows- Between the Lines season 3 | interesting stuff about the intersection of private sector & state actors as both attempt to undermine civil society (animal rights, anti-Pinochet, anti-fascism) through infiltrators, agents & touts. | |
| TV Show Ghost Squad |
“Whilst superficially the focus is on CIB2/CIB3-style police-investigating-police storylines (similar to start of BTL), ‘The Ghost Squad’ (2005) is largely interested on the cumulative effect of UC work on an officer’s sense of self “
Ghost Squad is an unofficial top secret Internal Affairs unit that recruits former police officers who’ve proved their honesty during their service and sends them undercover to investigate and root out corruption within the police. |
|
| TV Show Spooks Season 1 | ‘Spooks’ S1 has the ‘Traitor’s Gate’ episode, with veteran MI5 field officer Peter Salter infiltrating dastardly anarchist/anti-capitalist terrorists, but falling in love, etc etc | |
| TV Show Undercover – BBC drama | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076vdbc/episodes/guide |
Plays
| Any Means Necessary | Kefi Chadwick | |
marchudson.net 
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