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Agent Twister: The True Story Behind the Scandal that Gripped the Nation
He lived a double-life in the sixties
Faked his own death in the seventies
And retained his cover in the eighties
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.
Agent Twister is the first impartial account to put this extraordinary scandal in political context and reveal why John Stonehouse really disappeared.
Faked his own death in the seventies
And retained his cover in the eighties
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.
Agent Twister is the first impartial account to put this extraordinary scandal in political context and reveal why John Stonehouse really disappeared.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published June 9, 2022
79 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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July 4, 2022The fascinating and frankly bizarre story of John Stonehouse MP who got paid to be a Czech agent in the Cold War, scammed a bunch of money for his dodgy business dealings related to which someone may have got killed??, and attempted to fake his own death to get away from the mess of his life. They don't make MPs like that any more. Imagine being *embarrassed* about being a dishonest serial adulterer taking money from the Russians!
It's a compelling story in itself and an interesting vignette into the Cold War period. Stonehouse never really makes entire sense as a character--he seems to have had genuine and decent principles alongside being a monstrously selfish ego monster-- which just shows that truth is messier than fiction. Extremely detailed research and it shows, with lovely notes like the le Carre novel Stonehouse was reading as he legged it, and how he preferred Frederick Forsyth. Of course he did. I was a bit distracted by the choice to write in present tense throughout, which I don't like in fiction either, thus demonstrating that I am old and grumpy. An extraordinary tale.
It's a compelling story in itself and an interesting vignette into the Cold War period. Stonehouse never really makes entire sense as a character--he seems to have had genuine and decent principles alongside being a monstrously selfish ego monster-- which just shows that truth is messier than fiction. Extremely detailed research and it shows, with lovely notes like the le Carre novel Stonehouse was reading as he legged it, and how he preferred Frederick Forsyth. Of course he did. I was a bit distracted by the choice to write in present tense throughout, which I don't like in fiction either, thus demonstrating that I am old and grumpy. An extraordinary tale.
January 18, 2024
4+ stars, highly recommended. This is a riveting and comprehensive account of the life and treasonous behavior of John Stonehouse, MP, traitor and criminal. Some will probably have learned of him from ITVX's recent fun but necessarily truncated drama "Stonehouse" but here is the full, larger-than-life account of his betrayal of Britain to the Czech secret service, his corrupt business dealings, attempt to fake his own death and subsequent discovery and trial - a fascinating read. As a side note the sheer scale of his narcissism and self-delusion is reminiscent of a certain Donald J. Trump!
February 10, 2024
Told with great gusto. Preferred this to Stonehouse’s daughter’s account.
November 16, 2024
On balance this was a really entertaining read. Felt like a rushed end, though - possibly because any conclusions would rely on speculation so the author avoided drawing any
January 16, 2023
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”.
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”.
January 21, 2024
“I am not a criminal. I am not a forger. I am not a thief. I am not a conman.” So said John Stonehouse, a former British member of Parliament and government minister who faked his own death in 1974 and fled to Australia under a false identity, leaving behind his family and his twin business and political careers in tatters.
As it turned out he was, of course, all of those things and much more. Add to the list philanderer, polished liar, master manipulator, identity thief and, to top it all off, spy for the Soviet bloc during the Cold War.
For six months after he was discovered hiding out in Melbourne, the name Stonehouse dominated the headlines in Britain and Australia as he fought extradition to avoid being held to account for his crimes in the British courts.
Augur and Winstone’s version of the story is comprehensive and detailed, filling in a lot of gaps and, with lots of new evidence, putting beyond doubt the fact that Stonehouse did, indeed, take money to provide information to a foreign intelligence service.
This gives their book the air of a thriller or a spy novel. Indeed, two such books come into the story. One is Frederick Forsyth’s ‘The Day of the Jackal’, which is where Stonehouse learned how to get a new identity and passport by using the birth certificate of a dead man. The other is ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ by John le Carre which Stonehouse took with him to read when he set off to fake his own death by drowning off a Miami beach.
Although Stonehouse preferred Forsyth to le Carre, Augur and Winstone’s account of his life story is more like a non-fiction version of the latter than the former.
An especially impressive aspect of the book is the tone. It is narrated in neutral language and for the most part, they leave the emotive language of condemnation to his victims and his prosecutors. Towards the end it comes thick and fast: cant, hypocrisy and humbug, scoundrel and blackguard, fraud, deception and plundering, emotional blackmailer.
As it turned out he was, of course, all of those things and much more. Add to the list philanderer, polished liar, master manipulator, identity thief and, to top it all off, spy for the Soviet bloc during the Cold War.
For six months after he was discovered hiding out in Melbourne, the name Stonehouse dominated the headlines in Britain and Australia as he fought extradition to avoid being held to account for his crimes in the British courts.
Augur and Winstone’s version of the story is comprehensive and detailed, filling in a lot of gaps and, with lots of new evidence, putting beyond doubt the fact that Stonehouse did, indeed, take money to provide information to a foreign intelligence service.
This gives their book the air of a thriller or a spy novel. Indeed, two such books come into the story. One is Frederick Forsyth’s ‘The Day of the Jackal’, which is where Stonehouse learned how to get a new identity and passport by using the birth certificate of a dead man. The other is ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ by John le Carre which Stonehouse took with him to read when he set off to fake his own death by drowning off a Miami beach.
Although Stonehouse preferred Forsyth to le Carre, Augur and Winstone’s account of his life story is more like a non-fiction version of the latter than the former.
An especially impressive aspect of the book is the tone. It is narrated in neutral language and for the most part, they leave the emotive language of condemnation to his victims and his prosecutors. Towards the end it comes thick and fast: cant, hypocrisy and humbug, scoundrel and blackguard, fraud, deception and plundering, emotional blackmailer.
July 13, 2023
Great book on the John Stonehouse scandal in the 1970s. I heard about it on the news as a kid but I had no idea what was going on so it was interesting to hear the full details as an adult of this crazy story.
Synopsis: British MP who is involved in dodgy business deals including setting up a bank for Bangladeshis in the UK disappears on a Miami beach and is assumed to be drowned but later turns up in Melbourne Australia with his lover. Claims mental breakdown but is extradited and convicted of fraud while continuing trying to keep his political career going from his jail cell.
Crazy story, well told.
Synopsis: British MP who is involved in dodgy business deals including setting up a bank for Bangladeshis in the UK disappears on a Miami beach and is assumed to be drowned but later turns up in Melbourne Australia with his lover. Claims mental breakdown but is extradited and convicted of fraud while continuing trying to keep his political career going from his jail cell.
Crazy story, well told.
January 1, 2023
bizarre tale of serial conman, failed spy and dismal businessman. Propelled by an utter lack of conscience and excessive self-belief, John Stonehouse was an extreme case of people tolerating the unacceptable, even after his imprisonment. The saddest part of this tale was why the media still gave him publicity and why the public were not alerted to the transparent dishonesty and corruption of Stomehouse.
December 2, 2023
This was the most boring book I have ever read. Granted, I am not the target audience (year 9), but I am an avid history and politics fan, and the book was an utter disappointment. The most interesting bit of it was the blurb!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews