Fakers a top-secret tale of phantoms and forgeries on the disinformation front line

Intrigue, espionage, and deception. The truth behind 8,000 once top-secret files, so explosive their authors never dreamed they would be released. Fakers reveals the rise and fall of the mavericks running Britain's Cold War forgery empire. Their secret mission was audacious: to disrupt and discredit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cormac, Rory (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language:English
Published: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2026.
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

MARC

LEADER 00000cam a22000008i 4500
001 on1535296175
003 OCoLC
005 20260908121000.0
007 t|
008 260105s2026 enka 000 0 eng d
015 |a GBC6025379  |2 bnb 
016 7 |a 300690775  |2 Uk 
020 |a 9780198917007  |q hardback 
020 |a 0198917007 
024 8 |a CIPO000355275 
035 |a (OCoLC)1535296175 
040 |a UKMGB  |b eng  |e rda  |c UKMGB  |d OCLCO  |d TOH 
082 0 4 |a 327.1241  |2 23 
100 1 |a Cormac, Rory,  |e author. 
245 1 0 |a Fakers :  |b a top-secret tale of phantoms and forgeries on the disinformation front line /  |c Rory Cormac. 
264 1 |a Oxford :  |b Oxford University Press,  |c 2026. 
300 |a 368 pages :  |b illustrations (black and white) ;  |c 24 cm 
336 |a text  |2 rdacontent 
336 |a still image  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a unmediated  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a volume  |2 rdacarrier 
520 0 |a Intrigue, espionage, and deception. The truth behind 8,000 once top-secret files, so explosive their authors never dreamed they would be released. Fakers reveals the rise and fall of the mavericks running Britain's Cold War forgery empire. Their secret mission was audacious: to disrupt and discredit adversaries across the world using phantom groups, fake sources, and counterfeit documents. The leader was a remarkable character, wrestling with personal and professional dilemmas: Hans Welser. An Austrian refugee and one-time MI5 suspect interned behind barbed wire, Welser was a great survivor who rose to become special operations adviser to the Foreign Office, working hand in glove with MI6. His second in command was an eccentric, hard drinking, and high-flying journalist-turned-propagandist called John Rayner. Brought out of semi-retirement, for one final posting. Their team of bowler-hatted refugees, voluble ex-journalists, trailblazing women, and licentious literary sorts navigated loyalty and betrayal - both professionally and romantically - from the diplomats' attic, in the most sensitive part of the Foreign Office's secret propaganda department. The newly declassified files expose an array of plots, some comically absurd and others dangerously controversial. The forgery empire impersonated everything from hippies and ghosts to Islamists and ballet composers in their campaign to smear hostile politicians, stir tensions among adversaries, and even stymie the career of a contentious British historian. All took place against a high stakes backdrop - both overseas as states competed beneath the looming threat of nuclear war and in the corridors of power at home where grey-suited bureaucrats circled, keen to shut down the team for good. With timely insight into how propaganda works and how to respond to disinformation, Fakers is a thrilling journey into a secret world where nothing was as it seemed. 
650 0 |a Cold War  |x Propaganda. 
650 0 |a Disinformation  |z Great Britain  |x History  |y 20th century. 
994 |a C0  |b PCB 
949 |a schlow  |b SANONNE  |c 327.1241 COR  |d i  |e 39635104931893  |f 826975  |g ddc  |j 08/18/2026 
999 |a 522512