City Reads Secrets and Sensitivities - Christopher Andrew and Christopher Meyer
The Corn Exchange, Brighton, Saturday May 1, review by Samantha Clark.
It's not often you have access to a high flying British diplomat or a historian who has entered the MI5 secret archives.
But that's exactly what happened at Secrets and Sensitivities during the Brighton Festival.
The revelations from Christopher Andrew, who wrote Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5, and Sir Christopher Meyer, who was the British Ambassador to Washington during 9/11 were fascinating.
For example Sir Christopher Meyer told how when he worked in Moscow, the British Embassy had a bug free room which the KGB was trying to tunnel its way into.
So when they heard drilling from underneath their feet they prevented their Russian counterparts from overhearing sensitive information by playing Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory at an annoyingly loud volume - it could be straight out of James Bond.
He also told how Embassy staff were often a target for blackmailers - when he moved they uncovered four listening devices in his Moscow apartment.
Chairman Steve Gale guided Meyer and Andrew ably through their subjects and they spoke knowledgably and engagingly.
The audience was also able to ask the pair questions about their views on world affairs.
All in all it was like watching an intriguing live television show that you could also be part of - absolutely brilliant.
Christopher Meyer is the author of Getting Our Way: 500 Years of Adventure and Intrigue.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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