My Family and Other Spies

by Alistair Wood

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

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2025

Reviews

[Davidg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book but that leaves you unsatisfied. There is nothing that the author can currently do about this, unless certain files are released which reveal more of the story. Both of Alistair Wood’s parents worked for The Office, particularly after WWII. The book is primarily concerned with his father, for whom lying is an habitual way of life. The book begins with his father saying that he and his eldest son are just popping up to the shops for some bread, and then disappearing with the car and his and his wife’s passports - so she can’t follow. Eventually, she tracks them down to Canada and is reunited with her son. Alistair is too young to remember any of this, but grows up with the stories of the absent father, who was removed from The Office under a cloud, but we never quite work out why. Was he a Soviet double agent, or was he just caught up in the aftermath of his former boss, Kim Philby? Unless files are released in either London or Moscow, we will never know.

There are lots of side views of the world of post-war espionage. The former senior official, and family friend, described as the “most significant agent of the post-war period”, who dies without a notice, an obituary or a funeral, taking his secrets to the grave - if he had one. The sons of a former discredited spy, living on the SIS training camp, after their mother remarried.

And above all, there is the absent father, who tells his future wives that his sons from and his second marriage and daughters from the third, are not his but his brothers. He never had a brother. At various times, he claims to be Norwegian or Canadian. Becoming one of the first to ever be sacked from a UN post, only to be offered a job by another branch of that organisation.

A wild ride that isn’t as exciting as it could be, simply because there have to be a lot of ‘could have’s’ and ‘might be’s’.

[Robert Ronsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prompted by a 'Friend's' review on GR, I ordered this from the library thinking it would be right up my street. The story is but sadly not written this way.
I'm writing this while Raynor Winn's The Salt Path is much in the news. Say what you like about that book but it was never 'meh'. She described what could have been the repetitive diary of a trek in lively and colourful language. In My Family and Other Spies Alistair Wood does the opposite. He charts a colourful life using such uninspiring prose, excepting perhaps his attempts at humour, that it reads like a report from the Ministry of Ag. and Fish.
Alistair Wood's father led an extraordinary life in espionage - he was a contemporary of Kim Philby. He was a Norwegian-born, international religious leader – or was he? He kept secret from his third wife the existence of two previous wives and four children, two of whom he introduced to her as his nieces. His whole life was one of deception. In the hands of John le Carré, for instance, it would have made a gripping read. Sadly, Alistair Wood's dry approach jars with his subject matter so much that the result is merely 'okay'.

[Fairgo · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF - I managed 87% of the audiobook (David Rentoul's narration is outstanding) before I could persevere no longer. It should be a non-fiction thriller as Wood Jnr finds out about Wood Snr's many lives and lies in the espionage world and in his private life. But it's just a long, and eventually tedious, recounting of women bedded, deceived and abandoned (sometimes including children), globe-trotting to almost every country worth visiting and heroic learning enough foreign languages to rate him a top polyglot. What struck me, as boredom increased, was the lack of emotion related to any of the events. Wood Jnr doesn't mention great boyhood curiosity or sadness with respect to his absent father; in all the partings there's nothing to suggest that anyone was heartbroken or massively disappointed; and stories of lucky escapes don't elicit any sense of fear or relief at a close shave . Acceptance that he was a weird chap with secrets seemed to be the strongest memory most people had of him. It's a odd book - as though the promise of a full-colour thrilling movie turned out to be a series of black and white photos.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this a great read, and a quite fascinating one. A remarkable story of a remarkable – and enigmatic – man. Part coming-of-age tale, part family saga, part thriller, part insight into spycraft and the workings of the secret service, all written in an accessible and eminently readable style with some nicely understated comedic touches and the odd one-liner. It all amounts to a truly compelling memoir by John Wood’s son, who has delved into his father’s life with painstaking and often tricky research. And what a life it was, one which would be totally implausible in a novel but which happens to be all true. The author clearly and vividly depicts the world of espionage his father was involved in, his secrets and evasions and decidedly casual relationship to the truth. If his father was absent for much of his life, Alistair Wood doesn’t seem to hold a grudge, and remains non-judgmental throughout, which makes the book even more readable. Highly recommended.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sui Generis

An extraordinary account of the author’s eccentric progenitor and his wild life that reads like a thriller. Was JBW neurodivergent? Did he have a personality disorder? His son paints a portrait of a charmiung rogue, a man with a unique facility for absorbing foreign languages who “re-invented” himself, obfuscated or lied to be whomever he chose to be in that moment. Was he British? Norwegian? Canadian? A patriot or traitor? Once employed by British Intelligence he was suspected to have been a Soviet agent. He blagged his way into jobs in Academia and the United Nations. JBW was an enigma with wanderlust who serially used women, fathered children he neither parented nor supported financially, kept his own money very close to his chest, embraced Sufi Islamic philosophy yet on his deathbed converted to Catholicism. Yet he charmed many and, particularly in the second half of his life, did ‘good works’.

[Dominika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating peek into the globe-spanning world of espionage as inquisitively, entertainingly and yet soberly told by the protagonist’s son. Reaffirmed my conviction that it’s never too late to reinvent oneself, that every man’s story is built on the weight-defying backbone of a woman (or two or more), and that we are shaped but not defined by our families.

[Gerard Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting recounting of the life of the author's father.

It provides an insight into the secret service from the Second World War

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed reading about a different and time

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read. Started off rather slowly but became more absorbing as I read past the halfway point.

[sbs transit · Rating 4 out of 5]

British Simon Tay. Makes a good pairing

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most interesting parts were about Margaret, not JBW lol. That man might’ve been a polyglot but my god he was a DOG!