Spycatcher – The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer | Peter Wright | 1987 [USED – HCDJ – Good]

Peter Wright's autobiography of his career as a senior officer and Assistant Director of MI5 — the British domestic intelligence service — published in 1987.

Spycatcher became one of the most famous banned books in British publishing history. The British government attempted to suppress publication in Australia and elsewhere, arguing it breached the Official Secrets Act. The legal battle in Australia was fought on Wright's behalf by a young Sydney barrister named Malcolm Turnbull — who successfully defended the right to publish, became a household name in the process, and went on to become Prime Minister of Australia.

The book itself covers Wright's career inside MI5 — including his investigation into whether Roger Hollis, a former Director General of MI5, was a Soviet agent. The controversy it caused, and the British government's heavy-handed attempts to suppress it, sold more copies than anything MI5 might have wished.

Wright retired to Tasmania, which is why we stock it.

BOOK DETAILS

• Hardcover with dust jacket.
• 392 pages, indexed.
• Published 1987. Out of print.

CONDITION

Used, generally good condition.

DELIVERY & IN-STORE PICKUP

• Combined Shipping: Sourcing multiple titles for your Tasmanian history library? The Book Cellar offers combined flat-rate parcel delivery across Australia. Secure your books using our online checkout, or phone the bookshop directly on 03 6381 1545 to coordinate multi-volume shipping.
• Free Instore Pickup: Located in Tasmania or travelling the Midland Highway? Select "Instore Pickup" at checkout to pay no postage and collect your items directly from the counter at The Book Cellar, underneath Foxhunters Return in Campbell Town.