It was a charming fantasy of romantics that the spies would stop spying, that political conflict would end and politicians would tell the truth. Unfortunately that has not been the case.

It's easy to forget what intelligence consists of: luck and speculation. Here and there a windfall, here and there a scoop.

There are some subjects that can only be tackled in fiction.

I mean, you can't be less ruthless than the opposition simply because your government's policy is benevolent, can you now?

He has the gift of quiet.

I think the greatest single enemy is the misuse of information, the perversion of truth in the hands of terribly skillful people.

It's a principle of mine to come into the story as late as possible, and to tell it as fast as you can.