Academia secretelor. Intelectualii şi spionajul. O istorie universală. ed. 2/2011

 Did you know that Daniel Dafoe led espionage networks, that scholar stolnic Cantacuzino organised a ‘secret chancery’, that Mata Hari was “neither a dancer, nor an agent”, that the great authors of espionage novels, Fleming, Maugham, Greene, Le Carré etc., were… spies, that Brecht, Steinbeck, Sinatra were on the ‘FBI list’, that  Josephine Baker, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Maria Tănase were agents, that Einstein, Picasso and Oppenheimer were suspected of being spies, that the file regarding the assault on Pope John II still remains open…? Many of the ‘cases’ recalled will surprise, and not always in a pleasant way, the readers who will encounter a new and often cruel perspective of the biographies of such grand personalities, thus dismantling ‘myths’ or suggesting new ones… What were the reasons which made the intellectuals to accept such an alliance that often equalled ‘a pact with the devil’? Why did certain intellectuals make the object of pursuit or even annihilation acts of secret services? It is up to the reader to decide if and to what extent we have succeeded in answering these questions which, however, remain, open…

If you are not familiar with Mr. Alexandru Popescu or haven’t read his books, you might think that the present volume is what the Americans call an instant book, books which are quickly prepared to meet the public interest for an event that has just happened. The recent excitement caused by ‘dosariada’, the exposure, disclosure of former secret service agents directed the public’s attention towards this dark area of history. In such a context, an espionage book, specifically about the intellectuals’ participation in ‘informative’ activities, may seem a hasty writing meant to speculate this particular situation of the book market. This idea does not apply to the present work. Mr. Alexandru Popescu is a former diplomat with a historian’s background. The association of the two aspects – historian and diplomat – has been doubled by a thirst for reading and culture, hence the comprehensive knowledge of the author.

On every page there is a new thing, a surprise for the reader who discovers with astonishment that people of culture and artists of all kinds got involved in this activity, which disputes the status of prostitution as the oldest job in the world, but which many consider “a service of the seniors”.

In his investigations, Mr. Alexandru Popescu highlights a world that loves darkness. The effort is even more spectacular: a book that surpasses the detective novel.