Theodore Edward le Bouthillier Allbeury (24 October 1917 – 4 December 2005) was a British author of espionage fiction. He served as an intelligence officer in the Special Operations Executive between 1940 and 1947, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is believed to be the only British secret agent who parachuted into Nazi Germany during the war, and he remained there until the Allied armies arrived. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

he was captured and tortured when running agents across the border between East and West Germany. After running his own advertising agency, he became the managing director of the seafort-based pirate radio station

Radio 390 Radio 390 (1965–1967) was a pirate radio station on Red Sands Fort, (near Whitstable), a former Maunsell Fort on the Red Sands sandbar. Previously the fort had been used by Radio Invicta (c June 1964 – February 1965) and KING Radio (March � ...

in 1964, later moving to the ship-based Radio 355 (see under Swinging Radio England for details) until its closure in August 1967. His first novel, ''A Choice of Enemies'', was published in 1972. Allbeury went on to publish over 40 novels, under his own name as well as Patrick Kelly and Richard Butler.

Early life

Allbeury was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, Cheshire, and educated at

King Edward VI Aston School King Edward VI Aston School is a selective, all-boys grammar school and specialist sports college. The school, designed by Birmingham architect J.A. Chatwin, opened in 1883 and is still, with additional buildings, located on its original site, ...

, Birmingham.

Media adaptations

Allbeury's 1984 novel ''No Place to Hide'' was filmed as ''Hostage'' (1992) and starred Sam Neill, Talisa Soto and James Fox. The 1992 film '' Blue Ice'' starring Michael Caine is "based" on Allbeury characters. BBC Radio 4 broadcast adaptions of ''The Other Side Of Silence'' (8-part serial, 1982), ''Pay Any Price'' (10-part serial, 1983), ''No Place To Hide'' (8-part serial, 1984), ''The Lonely Margins'' (1988) and ''Deep Purple'' (1993).

Personal life

He was married to Grazyna, who died in 1999, and they had a son and three daughters.

Bibliography

Novels

*''A Choice of Enemies'' (1972) *''Snowball'' (1974) (featuring Tad Anders) *''Palomino Blonde'' (1975) (featuring Tad Anders) a.k.a. Omega-minus *''Where All the Girls Are Sweeter'' (1975) (writing as Richard Butler) a.k.a. Dangerous Arrivals *''The Special Collection'' (1975) a.k.a. The Networks *''The Only Good German'' (1976) a.k.a. Mission Berlin *''Moscow Quadrille'' (1976) a.k.a. Special Forces *''Italian Assets'' (1976) (writing as Richard Butler) a.k.a. Deadly Departures *''The Man with the President's Mind'' (1977) *''The Lantern Network'' (1978) *''The Alpha List'' (1979) *''Consequence of Fear'' (1979) a.k.a. Smokescreen *''The Reaper'' (1980) a.k.a. The Stalking Angel *''The Twentieth Day of January'' (1980) a.k.a. Cold Tactics *''Codeword Cromwell'' (1981) (writing as Patrick Kelly) *''The Lonely Margins'' (1981) (writing as Patrick Kelly) *''The Other Side of Silence'' (1981) *''The Secret Whispers'' (1981) *''Shadow of Shadows'' (1982) *''All Our Tomorrows'' (1982) *''Pay Any Price'' (1983) *''The Judas Factor'' (1984) featuring Tad Anders *''The Girl from Addis'' (1984) *''No Place to Hide'' (1984) a.k.a. Hostage *''Children of Tender Years'' (1985) *''The Choice'' (1986) *''The Seeds of Treason'' (1986) *''The Crossing'' (1987) a.k.a. Berlin Exchange *''A Wilderness of Mirrors'' (1988) *''Deep Purple'' (1989) *''A Time Without Shadows'' (1990) a.k.a. Rules of the Game *''The Dangerous Edge'' (1991) *''Show Me A Hero'' (1992) *''The Line-Crosser'' (1993) *''As Time Goes By'' (1994) *''Beyond the Silence'' (1995) a.k.a. The Spirit of Liberty *''The Long Run'' (1996) *''Aid and Comfort'' (1997) *''Shadow of a Doubt'' (1998) *''The Reckoning'' (1999) *''Never Look Back'' (2000) *''The Assets'' (2000) a.k.a. Due Process

Short story collection

*''Other Kinds of Treason'' (1990)

Radio plays

*''Long Ago and Far Away'' (1982) *''The Way We Live'' (1983) *''Time Spent in Reconnaissance'' (1983) – story later included in ''Other Kinds of Treason'' *''Music of a Small Life'' (1983) *''There's Always Tomorrow'' (1985) – story later included in ''Other Kinds of Treason'' as 'The Dandled Days'

Essays

*"Memoirs of an Ex-Spy," in Murder Ink: The Mystery Reader's Companion, edited by Dilys Winn (New York: Workman, 1977), pp. 164–168. *"It's the Real Thing," New Statesman (1 July 1977): 27.

References

External links

WorldCat entriesAllbeury appears on Desert Island Discs in September 1979.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allbeury, Ted 1917 births 2005 deaths English spy fiction writers 20th-century English novelists English male novelists People from Stockport British Special Operations Executive personnel 20th-century English male writers People educated at King Edward VI Aston School English torture victims