My Family and Other Spies

The unforgettable memoir of life in a family like no other, and their extraordinary, eccentric part in half a century of espionage . . .

‘It has always been inculcated into me that no good could ever come of having anything to do with my father …’

As a boy, Alistair Wood lived within the (very high) walls of a Secret Intelligence Service – or MI6 – training camp, surrounded by some of the most senior – and colourful – characters in SIS history. After all, he was family. His mother was one of a handful of women to have operated behind the lines in post-war Berlin. His father, once one of Britain’s most highly-regarded intelligence officers, was an absent and perplexing figure, the reasons for his sudden departure from the Service still classified to this day. But Wood’s search for the truth took him on a journey more remarkable than even he had imagined.