RRP: £20.00 Details

Save: £3.58 (18%)

FREE Returns

FREE delivery Wednesday, February 8. Details

Or fastest delivery Tuesday, February 7. Order within 3 hrs 41 mins. Details

In stock.

[{"displayPrice":"£16.42","priceAmount":16.42,"currencySymbol":"£","integerValue":"16","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"42","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ysPChUV5JqSVbV6hknTz7evVpp9SgTLC6QVu8%2B7y6SoLrlSUzJ%2BBNsfqjPlKrCvlrPSBCCVeOyZ6yAgGusfnKtnVwvX5rDpBQvxg7yRopaHxNO%2Bffb5cDF8oJN%2B9b7gL","locale":"en-GB","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"£10.32","priceAmount":10.32,"currencySymbol":"£","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"32","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"hhiMqH7f4evfS4PtweZjh3tgU%2Btutc4MNSIIdyPeGvyF0qcHYD1Os4oN%2B34soaR0GwTTtLRVrJsF2CaYoD0B62dVitIm7odV1t06NCes4UFV%2BpOphEIKtC5gG2By7DQtJ7z1%2FMhWZ6nDfh5nFMVgFTXziNnQ4%2BrygscFPuLUkus0rpp%2B2VensA%3D%3D","locale":"en-GB","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

££16.42 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Dispatches from

Amazon

Sold by

Amazon

Details

Dispatches from

Amazon

Sold by

Amazon

Return policy: Returnable within 30 days of receipt

Add gift options

£2.80 delivery February 9 - 11. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by World of Books Ltd

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the author

Philip Augar

Agent Twister: John Stonehouse and the Scandal that Gripped the Nation – A True Story Hardcover – 26 May 2022

by Philip Augar (Author), Keely Winstone (Author)

36 ratings

See all formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle Edition

"Please retry"

£9.99

—

Audible Audiobooks, Unabridged

"Please retry"

£0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

£16.42

£15.00

£10.32

Paperback

"Please retry"

£9.67

—

Kindle Edition
£9.99 Read with Our Free App
Audiobook
£0.00 Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover
£16.42

4 Used from £10.32 16 New from £15.00
Paperback
£9.67

1 New from £9.67

Enhance your purchase

He lived a double-life in the sixties.
Faked his own death in the seventies.
And retained his cover in the eighties.

'A case more important than Profumo' Financial Times
'A riveting read' Literary Review

A period thriller with powerful political and espionage themes, Agent Twister is the remarkable story behind one of the greatest scandals of the 1970s, told in full for the first time. If you think you know the true story of John Stonehouse – think again.

It’s November 1974 and John Stonehouse MP, once a star in Harold Wilson’s Labour government, is missing in Miami, presumed drowned. His disappearance exposes the most lurid details of his life, including identity fraud, corporate corruption, a love triangle, blackmail, links with the Mafia and a decade-long career as a Soviet spy. The public are gripped by this story, happy to forget the strikes, IRA bombs and rising prices that are making daily life a misery.

On Christmas Eve, Stonehouse is tracked down in Melbourne, Australia, where he is suspected of being that other missing Englishman, Lord Lucan. The comic absurdity of the story is offset by claims of a mental breakdown and a refusal to resign as an MP, even when he is extradited back to the UK and up on charges at the Old Bailey. For the first time, Agent Twister reveals the corporate crimes at the heart of Stonehouse’s business empire, the true extent of his ten-year collusion with powerful Soviet proxies and the political consequences of his antics. It’s a scandal greater than Profumo that lay buried for thirty years, with three prime ministers – Wilson, Callaghan and Thatcher – covering it up for very different reasons.

Written by the makers of the Channel Four documentary The Spy Who Died Twice, Agent Twister is the first impartial account to put this extraordinary scandal in political context and reveal why John Stonehouse really disappeared.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster UK
Publication date

26 May 2022
Dimensions

15.3 x 3 x 23.4 cm
ISBN-10

1398505404
ISBN-13

978-1398505407
See all details

Julian Hayes
65
Paperback
15 offers from £9.16
Julia Stonehouse
51
Paperback
19 offers from £5.20
Dan McCrum
638
Hardcover
19 offers from £15.00
Steve Richards
333
Paperback
20 offers from £8.97
Professor Peter Frankopan
Hardcover
1 offer from £26.40
Ben Macintyre
5,514
Paperback
33 offers from £3.66

From the Publisher

Product description

Review

'A cracking account of the life of a man who managed to combine three kinds of betrayal. Agent Twister is a riveting read. It's a good tale, told well, and as a way to measure the mood swings of the 1970s, the book works as well as any.' -- Frances Cairncross ― Literary Review

'In the pantheon of modern British political scandals, John Stonehouse is...arguably far more important than either [Profumo and Thorpe]. The Stonehouse story has sex, betrayal, a faked disappearance, widespread criminal fraud and above all, he is the only known case of a UK minister spying for a communist state. Agent Twister lovingly retells the story. Much of the joy of Agent Twister is the glimpse it affords into a different era.' -- Robert Shrimsley ― Financial Times

About the Author

Philip Augar is a former banker with a PhD in History. The author of four highly acclaimed books on business and economics, he contributes to the Financial Times, Sunday Times and the BBC. The Augar Report into post-18 education was published by the May government in 2019.

Keely Winstone is a writer and documentary-maker. The subjects of her documentaries range from the Gurkhas' summit of Everest and the D-Day landings, to Maradona's early demise and the spying career of John Stonehouse. She has a background as a print journalist and dramatist. Agent Twister is her first book.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (26 May 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1398505404
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1398505407
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.3 x 3 x 23.4 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 149,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,502 in Political Biographies
- 5,016 in Historical Biographies (Books)
- 7,067 in Government & Politics

Customer reviews:
36 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Philip Augar

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

36 global ratings

5 star		48%
4 star		32%
3 star		15%
2 star		6%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Laura Clark

Revelatory - reads like a thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 December 2022

Verified Purchase

This is a cracking read - not in any way weighed down by a huge amount of research that clearly has been put in by the authors to reveal the extraordinary story of John Stonehouse. beyond the sex, spying and political intrigue is a forensic examination of Stonehouse's financial shenanigans. The book is pacy and atmospheric, giving a real sense of the London in the 1960 and 70s. Strongly recommended.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Marin P

very well documented and the story, flowing like a thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 January 2023

Verified Purchase

The life of John Stonehouse, the only British politician known to have acted as a foreign agent while holding senior ministerial office, is another proof that reality can sometimes be more unbelievable than fiction.
I read bits about his story in newspapers before, and I watched the ITV drama, where the portrayer of the main character was too caricatural.
Being intrigued by this multifaced story which involves politics, spying, and personal drama, I read this book to find out more.
It is very well documented, and the story flows like a thriller while following his personal life and political and business career, and the cover-up of his spying activities. I read it with amazement, despite knowing by then the main events, and I did not put it down until I finished it.

The intelligent and charming single-minded narcissist lied all the way and betrayed his family, his country, his business partners, and everyone he was in contact with.
Totally lost in his webs of lies and betrayals and facing an imminent meeting with the justice, he faked his own death, thinking that a secluded life in Australia can be a viable option.
He was caught but he had more luck than a cat has lives. Extradition law and the director of public prosecutions’ rush to get him out of Australia saved him from being charged with the most egregious charges, those relating to the widespread fraud in his main failed business.
Also, because three prime ministers buried his treachery, each for their own different reasons, his spying carer was hidden from the public view long before his heart gave up on him.

“Thatcher would have suffered reputational damage, but for the two Labour leaders, it could have been much more serious. Wilson never shook off the stories that MI5 suspected him to be a communist sympathiser at best, or in the pay of the KGB at worst. Confirmation that one of his ministers and one of the Queen’s privy counsellors was an enemy spy in the 1960s, that Wilson’s 1974 Commons statement was wrong and that he did nothing with subsequent warnings would have caused acute embarrassment.
For Callaghan, who under Wilson held all three great offices of state – foreign secretary, home secretary, and chancellor – guilt by association and acquiescence would have been even more damaging to his precarious premiership”.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Page turning and impeccably researched

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 10 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Absolutely gripping from start to finish, this brilliantly researched book unpicks the little details of this bonkers story, painting a picture of a moment in time and a tricky, troubled man. If you like The Day of the Jackal (Stonehouse did!) or anything to do with con artists this will be right up your street.

Helpful

Richard Halton

Extraordinary story brilliantly told

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 December 2022

Verified Purchase

‘Meticulously researched’ doesn’t do justice to what might best be described as a superbly paced and brilliantly plotted ripping yarn of a debut novel. It reads as fiction first, facts later as was the way in the tumultuous life of Stonehouse himself. Entertaining, touching and bittersweet, if this was a wine it would be nebbilo, dark, slightly mysterious but with a bright intensity that grips to the final sip.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Steve~Wirral, England

Terrific read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 15 January 2023

Verified Purchase

This was the first scandal I remember on the news and have never read about before. The work that has gone into this is terrific and provides an enthralling story

Helpful

J.N. Maney

The authors have produced a real page turner out of an extraordinary true story.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 17 October 2022

Verified Purchase

A well written and meticulously researched book which reads like a far fetched novel, but is in fact entirely true.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

F Price

A real page-turner, you couldn't make it up.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 8 June 2022

Verified Purchase

Reads like a novel, I raced through to find out what happened. A true story you couldn't make up. Well-researched but easy to read. Was a government minister a spy? Did 3 prime ministers know more than they said? How did he disappear with all that money? Did his wife or girlfiend know and did he get away with it?

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Gripping read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 December 2022

An absolute page-turner, it would be unbelievable if not for all the meticulously researched evidence. Read it in one sitting.

Helpful

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Amazon Warehouse Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food

Buy new: £16.42£16.42 FREE delivery: Wednesday, Feb 8 in the UK Dispatches from: Amazon Sold by: Amazon

Buy Used: £10.32

Follow the author

Agent Twister: John Stonehouse and the Scandal that Gripped the Nation – A True Story Hardcover – 26 May 2022

Enhance your purchase

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

Product description

Review

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Philip Augar

Customer reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Buy new:

£16.42

FREE delivery: Wednesday, Feb 8 in the UK

Dispatches from: Amazon

Sold by: Amazon

Buy Used:

£10.32