Book Talk

22 Jan | “A Suspicion of Spies”

• Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2025
• Time: 7pm for 7.30pm

Tim Spicer has written a fascinating biography of an extraordinary individual, Wildfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale, a suave, genial and wealthy gentleman who also happened to be a highly intelligent and ruthless spy. Biffy’s career spanned forty years (‘40 years of licenced thuggery’) from the Russian Revolution to the Cold War and beyond. ‘Biffy’ had many connections with Poland, which are explored in the book. He maintained close links with Free Polish Intelligence throughout the war, and after Poles had acquired the first ENIGMA machine ‘Biffy’ was involved in conveying this to Bletchley Park. During the War he ran intelligence networks in France and gathered strategic intelligence on German U-boats, Normandy coastal defences (in preparation for D Day) and V1/V2 rockets. He ensured Polish Intelligence files remained in London after the war, when Poland was subjected to a communist government. He also oversaw post-war clandestine operations behind the Iron Curtain (which were exposed by Kim Philby). Episodes from ‘Biffy’s’ life have already appeared in more than 60 books and websites, but this is the first book that covers his entire life.

The author, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer OBE, has also led a life full of action and adventure. During his twenty years in the British Army he saw active service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands campaign, the Gulf War and the Balkans, as well as serving in the Far East, Cyprus and Germany. During his illustrious military career he acquired an extensive knowledge of intelligence and counter-terrorism. He is the author of An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War and the Sandline Affair (2000), a fast-moving account of his military life. His next book, A Dangerous Enterprise, is the story of the 15th Motor Gunboat Flotilla, which carried out clandestine operations for SIS in World War II.

The event will feature Tim Spicer in conversation with Mark Lubienski, a research historian specialising in the history of secret intelligence during the Second World War and the Cold War.

Copies of A Suspicion of Spies will be available to purchase at the event courtesy of Nomad Books.