Mansfield George Smith-Cumming: The Man Behind the Birth of MI6
Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming KCMG CB, born on April 1, 1859, was a British naval officer who served as the first chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also…
Peter J. Ortiz: A Hero in War and on Screen
Peter J. Ortiz. Peter Julien Ortiz, born on July 5, 1913, in New York City, was the son of a French-Spanish father and an American mother of Swiss descent. He…
Whispering Death: The Welrod Pistol
Welrod Mk II at Parham Airfield Museum, Parham Airfield, Suffolk. Museum of the British Resistance Organisation. Photo: Gaius Cornelius / CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED. The Welrod is a fascinating piece…
James Armistead Lafayette: Hero Spy of the American Revolution
James Armistead Lafayette. Credit: US Army. James Armistead Lafayette was born into slavery around the year 1748 in New Kent County, Virginia. He was raised on the property of Colonel…
The Langley Files: The CIA’s First Public Podcast
For decades, the Central Intelligence Agency has lived in the American imagination as a place of shadowy operatives, coded messages, and high‑stakes secrets. It’s an institution built on silence, one…
The NRO: Pioneering Space-Based Intelligence
Aerial photograph of the National Reconnaissance Office by Trevor Paglen. Commissioned by Creative Time Reports, 2013. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a pivotal institution within the United States Intelligence…
The FP-45 Liberator: An Unconventional Weapon for Resistance
FP-45 Liberator. Photo: Armémuseum / CC BY 4.0 DEED. The FP-45 Liberator was a unique weapon developed during World War II by the United States. It was a single-shot handgun…
Captain Peter Mason: Official Assassin
Photo of Peter Mason, date unknown. Captain Peter Mason, a figure whose life was as intriguing as any spy novel, served in the British Special Air Service (SAS) during World…
The War Chronicles of Christopher Lee: Heroism or Hyperbole?
Christopher Lee in scene from “The Hound of the Baskervilles” (1959). United Artists. Public Domain. Sir Christopher Lee CBE CSU, renowned for his acting career, had an equally fascinating life…
F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas: The White Rabbit of World War II
RAF Wing Commander and SOE agent Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas, also known as F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas, was born on June 17, 1902, in London, England. His parents were John…