James Crossland

This November, come along to the bookshop to find out more about Rogue Agent, the first biography of ‘British Agent’ in Moscow, Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart. Join us and author James Crossland for a top-secret evening of fun, exploring Lockhart's links to one of Scotland’s famous families and his unconventional activities during the world's darkest decades.

Rogue Agent

Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart’s story is one of scandals and subversion, bitter truths and cunning deceptions, scattered across an age of war, revolution and extremism. Drawn from years of research into private papers and top-secret documents, Rogue Agent is the first biography of Lockhart, a key figure in both Anglo-Soviet relations in the early stages of the Cold War, and the development of psychological warfare. Yet he died mostly unremembered and near destitute, becoming little more than a footnote in the pages of history.

Rogue Agent puts Lockhart back in the spotlight, chronicling the life of this gifted yet habitually flawed upstart in its entirety, from his time as Britain’s ‘Agent’ in Moscow, when he conspired with MI6’s ‘Ace of Spies’ Sidney Reilly to bring down the Communist regime, to leading the Political Warfare Executive (PWE), a secret body responsible for disinformation and propaganda in the Second World War. Along the way we see Lockhart, flaws and all, from his many affairs to crippling bouts of self-doubt and depression, and a hedonistic lifestyle that left him in a state of perpetual debt.

Exploring his contributions to the development of psychological warfare, his unorthodox mind and his penchant for long nights and dangerous women, Rogue Agent presents a full account of Lockhart’s life that restores him to the historical record and explains why he never fulfilled the potential others saw in him.

About James Crossland

James Crossland is a Professor of International History at Liverpool John Moores University. He has a long-held interest in the history of terrorism, intelligence and subversion and his previous books include The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism and War, Law and Humanity: The Campaign to Control Warfare. Crossland has also written extensively on the history of warfare, intelligence, fake news, terrorism and propaganda for popular history magazines.