North American rights have been snared by Pegasus Books for espionage writer Henry R. Schlesinger’s new book ‘The Age of Amateurs: The Hidden History of Espionage and American High Society’.
This book that traces American intelligence history from the use of upper crust Blue Bloods in largely ad hoc intelligence service to the more professional and egalitarian organisations of WWII up to the Cold War.
Central to this effort was the work of men (and a few women) from some of America’s most prominent families. Many born in the waning days of the Gilded Age, they entered the world of espionage from New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and other bastions of Blue Blood aristocracy.
Among these citizen spies were names that would have been familiar to regular readers of the society pages of local papers. Living opulent lives, they transitioned into citizen spies such as Ralph Pulitzer; Griswold Lorillard; Wall Street legend Lawrence Waterbury; Nelson Doubleday, the publisher; Winthrop W. Aldrich, chairman of Chase National Ban; and Vincent Astor, of the prominent Astor family.
Henry is the co-author of Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda which was adapted for Netflix; Spy Sites of Washington, D.C., New York City & Philadelphia. His most recent book is Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal and Weaponized Love. His work has appeared in Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian, and many trade publications, such as AirMail, Publisher’s Weekly, SpyTalk, The Daily Mail and appeared on podcasts for the International Spy Museum and New York’s Spyscape Museum.
The book will publish in May 2026.
Cull & Co. Literary Agency Ltd 