A Spy, Like A Writer, Lives Outside

Never Trade A Secret, You'll Always Get The Short End Of The Bargain.

The Good Pupils Are Often Brilliant, And They Keep You On Your Toes And Take You To The Limits Of Your Knowledge. The Worst Pupils Provide A Unique Insight Into The Criminal Mind.

I Grew Up In A Completely Bookless Household. It Was My Father's Boast That He Had Never Read A Book From End To End. I Don't Remember Any Of His Ladies Being Bookish. So I Was Entirely Dependent On My Schoolteachers For My Early Reading With The Exception Of The Wind In The Willows, Which A Stepmother Read To Me When I Was In Hospital.

It Was A Charming Fantasy Of Romantics That The Spies Would Stop Spying, That Political Conflict Would End And Politicians Would Tell The Truth. Unfortunately That Has Not Been The Case.

More Particularly, Having A Largely German-oriented Education Has Made Me Very Responsive To 19th-century German Literature.