Mark Hollingsworth Knihy

A brand new edition of this fascinating book on M15 intelligence operations. Updated and expanded with brand new material on the war on Terrorism such as insider reports on the Bali bombing, M15's tragic lack on intelligence on September 11th and how it is now regarded as a 'massive' intelligence failure. Both authors write for the broadsheets, are well-connected and are leading experts in the field. Defending the Realm provides a rare insight into the secret world of M15 and breaks new ground in revealing its covert techniques - from phone-tapping and mail tampering, to the running of agents and surveillance operations. This new edition also provides a profile of M15's new female director, Hon. Eliza Manningham-Buller.

'A gripping story filled with remarkable revelations.' Tom Bower, author of Revenge

A group of buccaneering Russian oligarchs made colossal fortunes after the collapse of communism—and many of them came to London to enjoy their new-found wealth. Londongrad tells for the first time the true story of their journeys from Moscow and St. Petersburg to mansions in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, and Surrey—and takes you into a shimmering world of audacious multi-billion pound deals, outrageous spending, and rancorous feuds. But while London's flashiest restaurants echoed to Russian laughter and Bond Street shop-owners totted up their profits, darker events also played themselves out. The killing of ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko in London to the death—in a helicopter crash he all but predicted—of Stephen Curtis, the lawyer to many of Britain's richest Russians, chilled London's Russians and many of those who know them. This is the story of how Russia's wealth was harvested and brought to London—some of it spent by Roman Abramovich on his beloved Chelsea Football Club, some of it spent by Boris Berezovsky in his battles with Russia's all-powerful Vladimir Putin. Londongrad is a must-read for anyone interested in how vast wealth is created, the luxury it can buy, and the power and intrigue it produces.