Jim Meigs

Very sad to learn of the death of Len Deighton, who was one of the two greatest spy thriller writers of all time and in some regards was Le Carre’s superior. Anyone who has not read Deighton should try Funeral in Berlin, Bomber or SSGB. Most of all they should seek out Berlin Game, the start of an epic 10 book Cold War series focused on Bernard Samson. Deighton’s writing was sharp, satirical, gripping and often amusing. His office infighting in the intelligence services was delicious and his characters are beautifully drawn. The Samson cycle starts with a meticulously plotted run of five books (Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match, Spy Hook and Spy Line) which all stand alone but tell one big story from the jaded but dedicated perspective Bernard a brilliant field operative. Len’s genius idea was to use the sixth, Spy Sinker, to retell the whole cycle from the perspective of everyone else, exposing what Bernard didn’t know and misunderstood. There is then an origin story about Bernard’s dad during the war, Winter, and then a concluding trilogy of Faith, Hope and Charity, which is not as high quality but deals with the fallout from the events of books 1-5. It’s an epic achievement and the greatest long series in spy fiction, accepting that the Smiley series is the greatest short series. Do yourself a favour, give it a try

The enraged reaction to this NYT article about the synagogue attack is just lunacy. Even for common crimes, news outlets include the perpetrator's likely motives (he was distraught over being fired; his wife left him; he got radicalized online, etc.). Nobody rational thinks that's designed to justify the crime: just to explain it. Yet when a terrorist act happens, some try to erect a taboo around any reporting on the political motives. Many if not most of the terror attacks on US soil have been carried out as explicit retaliation for US bombings, invasions, civilian killings, coups, other interference in that region. It's vital that public know that why such attacks (like the one in Austin, that left 3 Americans dead) happen. Including this explanation of motive obviously doesn't justify those attacks, nor is it intended to do so. What it does is let Americans understand that if we want to bring violence around the world, one expected consequence is that some will bring violence back to us (CIA calls it "blowback"). It's a serious cost to consider when determining the US role in the world and whether we should start new wars. And such reporting on these motives is also vital to prevent crude USG propaganda like "they hate us for our freedoms" or whatever.