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Ben Macintyre


17 results

Moment of Truth

Do historical films and TV programs need to be accurate?

A Trio of Traitors

Running Target

In the 1930s, Nazis tried to kill All Quiet on the Western Front. A new screen adaptation, in theaters now, proves its longevity

The Phantom of the Royal Opera

There’s a reason J.R. Moehringer, who has ghosted memoirs for Andre Agassi and Phil Knight, was paid seven figures for the Prince Harry job

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Based on the best-selling book of the same name, and with unprecedented access to secret military archives, a new BBC drama tells how a group of maverick officers formed the S.A.S. in the darkest days of World War II

The Last Laugh

Fawlty Towers could never be made today. But 47 years after it premiered, the show still perfectly captures a certain type of small-minded, social-climbing, xenophobic Englishman who is now all but extinct

House and Gargoyle

With busts of Greek gods and gold-inlaid light switches, interior design for the modern autocrat is all about excess and intimidation

Micky Burn

The W.W. II British P.O.W. saved the life of a girl who became one of Hollywood’s greatest leading ladies

Great Sakharov’s Ghost

By seeking to destroy Alexei Navalny, Putin is repeating the mistakes his K.G.B. predecessors made with the dissident nuclear scientist

A Friend Among Spies

For 60 years, real-life spy turned author John le Carré wrote elegant best-sellers that used the world of espionage to expose the complexities of human nature

The Game Is Afoot

Netflix and the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle are butting heads over Sherlock Holmes’s true identity

The Making of a Madam

Growing up, Ghislaine Maxwell was envied, admired, and teased, but what made her conspire with Jeffrey Epstein for decades?

Lessons of the Spanish Flu

What can we learn from the 20th century’s deadliest virus outbreak?

Have a Seat!

The naughty French love chair designed for Edward VII to facilitate a threesome

Putin on the Ritz

To understand Russia’s leader, go back to Stalin

All Fact-Checked on the Western Front

How much in Sam Mendes’s film 1917 is actually true?

Boris-Ripper

Britain’s new prime minister wrote a comic novel with racy language and racial slights