Wandering Eye: All eyes on America(na) Editorial Staff
AMERICANA WEEK
In addition to sales of important Americana, furniture, folk, and outsider art at New York’s two major auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s a number of events are taking place that we urge you to turn your eyes toward: Celebrating its sixty-seventh year as the leading art, antiques, and design fair in the country, the Winter Show will be presented digitally in this edition. The show benefits the East Side House Settlement, and is now open for a VIP preview. Events open to the public on Friday, January 22. In addition to showcasing important works of art on offer from sixty-plus dealers, the Winter Show’s web portal will serve as a hub for a variety of events taking place, including several to be presented by
John le Carré at the premiere of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in 2011
Credit: Sang Tan/AP
One of John le Carré’s final public appearances came on his 88th birthday – October 19 2019 – when he was one of the hundreds of thousands of people taking part in the “Together for the Final Say” march calling for a second Brexit referendum.
There’s a fine photograph of him on that day, with his walking stick and “Bollocks to Brexit” sticker, eyes stern under beetling brows worthy of Methuselah. This is not just the look of a man annoyed that he’s having to miss out on a birthday tea at Claridge’s: this is somebody full of righteous fury about the seemingly never-ending stupidity of those who have run the world over the nine decades of his existence.
Craig Sisterson pays tribute to a legend.
On December 12, one of the world’s greatest spy masters slipped from this world. Not from an assassin’s bullet in a darkened alley, poisoning from a nerve agent, or a wretched betrayal by someone wrongly trusted; but pneumonia. After a lifetime entwined with spycraft, David John Moore Cornwell, formerly of MI5 and MI6, passed away in his hospital bed, aged 89.
As the news broke the following day, the cover name Cornwell had created 60 years ago – not for a secret assignment, but for an espionage novel he was writing while still working for the British intelligence services during the Cold War – began trending worldwide.
Ten Lessons in Intelligence
December 19, 2020
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here is no shortage of intelligence-themed or spy-related books on the market. From titles claiming something akin to “spy skills that will save your life” to “how do detect deception in your spouse”, there is a public appetite for a peek behind the curtain at the clandestine world. These typically trend more James Bond than George Smiley; more action than introspection, often resembling potboiler thrillers found in pharmacies and airport terminals alike.
They offer the reader a glimpse into the clandestine lives of spies, allowing them to insert themselves into the darkened alleys of European capitals or the slums of a conflict hot spot. How would I react in this situation? How would I handle being tailed? Where is the best place for a dead drop? The likelihood that suburban moms and dads will ever find themselves needing the skills outlined by the authors is decidedly slim. Perhaps some international travelers will fin