313:. These charges were eventually dropped. Throughout all this, the book continued to be sold in Scotland; moreover, Scottish newspapers were not subject to any English gag order, and continued to report on the affair. Quantities of the book easily reached English purchasers from Scotland, while other copies were smuggled into England from Australia and elsewhere. A notable television report at the time featured a reporter flying to Australia, and returning to England with ten copies of the book, which he declared to Heathrow airport's customs officers. After some discussion, he was allowed to take the books into England, as the customs service had not been told to confiscate them.
291:, after his retirement from MI5. He first attempted publication of his memoirs in 1985. The British government immediately obtained a court order banning publication in the UK, but the order applied only in the United Kingdom (and even then did not apply in Scotland with its separate legal system), and the book continued to be available elsewhere. In September 1987, the UK government applied for similar orders to prevent publication in Australia, but future Prime Minister
221:, a former MI5 Director General. His book also discusses other candidates who may have or may not have been the mole. He explores the history of MI5 by chronicling its principal officers, from the 1930s to his time in service. He makes serious allegations against MI6 intelligence officer
349:
Eventually, in 1988, the book was cleared for legitimate sale when the Law Lords acknowledged that overseas publication meant it contained no secrets. However, Wright was barred from receiving royalties from the sale of the book in the United
Kingdom. In November 1991, the
51:
340:
In all but one country, our readers have on this page a review of 'Spycatcher,' a book by an ex-M.I.5-man, Peter Wright. The exception is
Britain, where the book, and comment on it, have been banned. For our 420,000 readers there, this page is blank – and
178:, the book was banned in England (but not Scotland) due to its allegations about government policy and incidents. These efforts ensured the book's notoriety, and it earned considerable profit for Wright.
818:
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271:. In the afterword, he said that he wrote the book chiefly to work to regain compensation for losses of significant pension income when the British government ruled his pension for earlier work in
370:. While admitting (on page 42) that the book included "factual data", the document stated that it was also "filled with errors, exaggerations, bogus ideas, and self-inflation".
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267:", "Thou shalt not get caught." He described many MI5 electronic technologies (some of which he developed), for instance, allowing clever spying into rooms, and
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in gagging its newspapers. The accuracy of various allegations made in the book by Wright was questioned in a 1993 review of
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174:. He drew on his own experiences and research into the history of the British intelligence community. Published first in
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The book has sold more than two million copies. In 1995, Wright died a millionaire from proceeds of his book.
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published upside-down photographs of the three Law Lords, with the caption 'You Fools'. British editions of
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35:
24:
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295:, representing the publisher, successfully resisted the application, as he did on appeal in June 1988.
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Wright examines the techniques of intelligence services, exposes their ethics, notably their "eleventh
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483:"I've worked for decades to reveal the truth about the 'Wilson plot'. But the cover-up continues"
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Burnet, David; Thomas, Richard (Summer 1989). "Spycatcher: The
Commodification of Truth".
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701:"Of Moles and Molehunters: A Review of Counterintelligence Literature, 1977-92"
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lifted the ban on
English newspaper reportage on the book. In late July, the
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464:"UK officials still blocking Peter Wright's 'embarrassing' Spycatcher files"
397: – Increased awareness of information caused by efforts to suppress it
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This article is about the 1987 autobiography. For the 1952 memoir, see
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Spycatcher: The Candid
Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer
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615:. Herald & Times Group. 14 August 1987. p. 8 – via
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European Court of Human Rights cases involving the United
Kingdom
213:, Wright says that one of his assignments was to unmask a Soviet
591:. Herald & Times Group. 25 July 1987. p. 3 – via
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identifying the frequency to which a superhet receiver is tuned
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706:. Center for the Study of Intelligence. 1 October 1993
607:"Law Lords explain fears of setting traitors' charter"
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Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights
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English newspapers attempting proper reporting about
197:. Information belonging to the security services is
354:ruled that the British government had breached the
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681:"UK: New Calls for More Liberal State Secrets Law"
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385: – British ring of spies for the Soviet Union
248:(who had been secretly accused by Soviet defector
256:agent); and of MI5's eavesdropping on high-level
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336:ran a blank page with a boxed explanation that
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170:officer and Assistant Director, and co-author
669:. Herald & Times Group. 27 November 1991.
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324:again barred reporting Wright's allegations.
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36:Michael Shrimpton § Conspiracy theories
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481:Norton-Taylor, Richard (29 December 2023).
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195:documents should be released after 30 years
535:"1988: Government loses Spycatcher battle"
49:
424:
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559:"1987: Ban lifted on MI5 man's memoirs"
462:Ungoed-Thomas, Jon (27 November 2021).
244:plotting against Labour Prime Minister
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529:
527:
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425:Zuckerman, Laurence (17 August 1987).
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309:; on persisting, they were tried for
201:from the Freedom of Information Act.
364:Center for the Study of Intelligence
305:s principal allegations were served
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522:
356:European Convention of Human Rights
13:
14:
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366:, an in-house think tank for the
847:Censorship in the United Kingdom
748:from the original on 24 May 2022
403: – Euphemism for dishonesty
185:was still blocking or redacting
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501:"The Observer and The Guardian
661:"Spycatcher and press freedom"
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509:European Court of Human Rights
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352:European Court of Human Rights
162:(1987) is a memoir written by
1:
882:Collaborative autobiographies
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193:affair despite the rule that
742:Independent News & Media
728:Bower, Tom (28 April 1995).
391: – British Cold War spy
7:
857:Heinemann (publisher) books
641:. 7 August 1987. p. 30
583:"Judges Dilute Secrets Ban"
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25:Spycatcher (disambiguation)
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867:Works subject to a lawsuit
773:Journal of Law and Society
427:"How Not to Silence a Spy"
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189:requests for files on the
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689:. London. 10 August 1998.
632:"Unfit for British Print"
401:Economical with the truth
228:Wright also tells of the
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731:"Obituary: Peter Wright"
217:in MI5, who he says was
877:British autobiographies
837:1987 non-fiction books
819:Observer and Guardian
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275:was not transferable.
187:freedom of information
181:In 2021 and 2023, the
23:. For other uses, see
16:Memoir by Peter Wright
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279:Publication and trial
571:. 23 September 2008.
232:plot to assassinate
225:, who died in 1975.
810:judgments in cases
686:Global Policy Forum
617:Google News Archive
593:Google News Archive
505:(1991) 14 EHRR 153"
199:absolutely exempted
45:
638:The New York Times
612:The Glasgow Herald
588:The Glasgow Herald
547:. 13 October 2008.
443:on 8 February 2008
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503:v. United Kingdom
362:published by the
343:the law is an ass
311:contempt of court
250:Anatoliy Golitsyn
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101:Publication date
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30:For the book
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105:31 July 1987
62:Peter Wright
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21:Oreste Pinto
752:11 February
710:30 December
437:Time Warner
389:Julia Pirie
265:commandment
252:of being a
238:Suez Crisis
236:during the
95:(Australia)
44:Spycatcher
831:Categories
764:Literature
716:CSI 93-002
666:The Herald
645:20 January
447:20 January
408:References
360:Spycatcher
307:gag orders
300:Spycatcher
285:Spycatcher
223:Dick Ellis
211:Spycatcher
191:Spycatcher
322:Law Lords
176:Australia
166:, former
93:Heinemann
89:Publisher
84:Espionage
32:Spyhunter
746:Archived
564:BBC News
540:BBC News
377:See also
289:Tasmania
138:17234291
73:Language
794:1410360
205:Content
81:Subject
76:English
792:
514:23 May
64:(with
58:Author
34:, see
821:v. UK
808:ECtHR
790:JSTOR
704:(PDF)
303:'
110:Pages
817:and
754:2010
712:2020
647:2008
516:2014
449:2008
432:Time
273:GCHQ
215:mole
132:OCLC
119:ISBN
782:doi
569:BBC
545:BBC
368:CIA
287:in
254:KGB
242:CIA
230:MI6
209:In
168:MI5
113:392
833::
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778:16
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
