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On The Table Read, “the best book magazine in the UK“, Andrew Gilbrook’s An Ordinary Guy, An Unknown Spy shares his unique life story. Aged just 16 he was selected to join the Secret Service, and in doing so became the only spy selected that didn’t pass through the university system. Starting with his escape from torture in Angola … Andrew Gilbrook tells all.
Andrew Gilbrook’s Biography
Andrew Gilbrook’s decision to come out from the shadows and share his life story – including the 17 years he dedicated to Queen and country – very quickly removes from the reader images of the vodka martini and fast car lifestyle we associate with a life in espionage.
Authentic and sharing the dangerous and well as more mundane aspects of his professional and personal life, this biography is not only hard to put down, but its honest recounting of the adventure, stealth and PTSD that ended his career, make it ripe for an intriguing adaptation to the big screen or TV.
A huge decision to go public, the author has been careful in what information he reveals, but his belief that telling his story is beneficial to retaining his sanity further emphasises the debt we owe those that operate in the darkness to ensure the safety and security of us all.
An Ordinary Guy, An Unknown Spy
United Kingdom. A story based on real events.Few people are deemed smart enough to be selected and trained as a spy for Her Majesty’s Government, fewer qualify. The Author is one such man, who uniquely, was chosen at the age of 16, the only person still to pass selection without an education through the university system.
Andy describes his unbelievable life, from the beginning, as a child, playing in the woods and fields around his home in Maple Cross, Hertfordshire, learning the skills he had no idea he would need in his future spy world, tracking, moving silently and invisibly, undetected.
His career ended, leaving him suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, after facing interrogation, torture and being stood in front of a firing squad in war torn Angola, he escaped by stealing a small aircraft piloting alone and injured 700 miles to safety with only 4 hours unqualified flying experience. He faced the rest of his life knowing a dark secret had to be kept from everyone he knew.
Only in 2012, when he was informed his ex-MI6 secretary had died from cancer, close to breaking down mentally, did he finally decide to reveal his secret life to his friends and family to release the buried secrets from his struggling sanity. A risky choice, one he did not take lightly, but he knew deep inside it was the only way forward for his own peace of mind.
Carefully written to avoid revealing any government secrets, this is his personal story, thrilling, surprising and an eye opener into the life of, An Ordinary Guy, who truly was, An Unknown Spy.
About Andrew Gilbrook
Andrew Gilbrook was born in London on 23rd October 1955 and grew up in Hertfordshire as the middle of three brothers. At the age of 17 he left school with no qualifications and was chosen as an Intelligence Officer recruit.
After 17 years his career ended tragically, leaving him struggling with PTSD unable to tell a soul what had happened. Years of keeping his secret from friends and family, then hearing of the death of his ex-secretary he decided to reveal to all who he really is.
His tale is quite unique, exciting and unbelievable. His first book reveals all.
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