Today boys want to grow up to be professional athletes, or tech billionaires. But there was time when being a secret agent seemed like just about the coolest thing to do. Whether it was the literary exploits of Bond or Bourne, or the real story of Philby or the moral twilight of le Carre, spycraft, particularly during the days of the Cold War, held a magical appeal. It certainly did for Naveed Jamali. He dreamt of being in Naval Intelligence and it inspired him to become a real life double agent, albeit ending in the parking lot of Hooters. His is both a very American story but also an international story
Naveed tells his story, along with Ellis Henican, in their book How to Catch a Russian Spy: The True Story of an American Civilian Turned Double Agent
My conversation with Navid Jamali and Ellis Henican:
