Thatcher's Spy
My Life as an MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin
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Thatcher's Spy
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Forsythe
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By:
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Willie Carlin
About this listen
In Thatcher's Spy, the Cold War meets Northern Ireland's Dirty War in the remarkable real-life story of a deep under-cover British intelligence agent, a man now doomed forever to look over his shoulder.
In March 1985, as he climbed the six steps of Margaret Thatcher's prime-ministerial jet on the runway of RAF Aldergrove, little did Willie Carlin know the role Freddie Scappaticci played in saving his life.
So began the dramatic extraction of Margaret Thatcher's key undercover agent in Sinn Féin. For 11 years, Willie Carlin worked alongside IRA commander Martin McGuinness in the republican movement's political wing in Derry.
He was MI5's man at McGuinness' side and gave the British State unprecedented insight into the IRA leader's strategic thinking. When Carlin's cover was blown in 1985, Thatcher authorised the use of her jet to whisk him to safety. Incredibly, it was another British spy inside the IRA's secretive counter-intelligence unit, the 'nuttin' squad', who saved Carlin's life. This is his story.
©2019 Willie Carlin (P)2019 W. F. HowesListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Thatcher's Spy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Roland Sewell
- 08-08-20
Disturbing and informative
a disturbing yet informative account of the world of intelligence during the troubles. Also a reminder that our attitude to each other over race and religion is so often impacted by the accident of birth. It takes a special person to overcome such prejudice and bravery to stand against it while living within it. By the way tell the narrator that "corps" is pronounced "core" even in NI.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
- Andy Haines Home
- 01-03-22
A must read for anyone interested in The Troubles
A very interesting but unsurprising first hand recollection of the IRAs most successful era
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark Jordan
- 28-06-24
very informative
very intriguing book, giving more insight into the murky details of the dirty war.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rob Mackins
- 23-04-21
Good story, badly presented
Great story into the inner workings of Sinfein. The annoying thing which made it a chore to get through was the person who narrated it kept pausing mid sentence. Really frustrating.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Will Palmer
- 30-08-21
Great story but loses something on the narration.
this is an incredible story which has been well written. Unfortunately the narration lacks rhythm and flow in many places and doesn't convey some of the emotion that I think must be present in the writing and the situations being described.
Still well worth a listen though as I learned a lot as someone who was aged 8-13 at the time being written about so had an awareness of the Troubles but not much of an understanding at the time.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- SMcL
- 04-10-23
Interesting story but poor narration.
I enjoyed the story in the book, mainly because I am familiar with a lot of the people and places in the book, and I could relate to it all.
But I have to admit I struggled with the narrator, who seemed to struggle and stumble over the words. A 3 out of 5 stars.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kate
- 17-07-20
Excellent
this is an excellent story, giving a great insight into the troubles in Northern Ireland- from both perspectives. Great narator. really gripping.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Justin O Neill
- 04-10-20
Great insight to the troubles
A Fantastic book. Very well narrated. I Definitely highly recommend this audio book to everyone.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew Agnew
- 15-07-21
meh
Narrator was woeful, I listened on 2x speed. The story itself was fascinating. With someone else narrating this would have been 5 stars.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mistermike
- 30-09-24
Interesting book, ruined by dreadful narration.
Interesting book with insightful writing and perspective, but spoilt by the narrator whose narration presents as barely literate. I wasn't sure if the narrator was trying to act as semi-literate, if so this is a gross insult to the author and his countrymen. Riddled with continually mispronouncing words - not difficult words but words like Army corps, Tank corps, Education corps and Intelligence corps which the narrator constantly pronounced "corps" rather than core. At times he struggled and faltered over even the most simple sentences - very distracting and a disservice to the author.
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