BARBARA BOSWELL remembers South African poet, storyteller, publisher, editor and activist Diana Ferrus (1953-2026)
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Heart of darkness
RON JACOBS is gripped by the account of a journey through the networks of CIA influence that run from the US, via Britain to Bangkok and Thailand
Saturn devours his Son (Black paintings, 1820-23) Francisco de Goya
[Museo Del Prado/CC]
HELEN VASSALLO recommends a gripping Argentinian crime story about gender violence and the weaponisation of religion
New releases from Steve Swallow, Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts, and Ady Johnson
When the ravages of Alzheimer’s leave an elderly woman marooned in painful memories of October 1950, her grandchild comes up with a creative strategy.
New releases from Simone White, Brass Funkeys, and Souad Massi
SUE TURNER is compelled by a history that shows how far a country can turn in on itself to collude with abuses of power
RON JACOBS is persuaded by the parallel drawn between Charles Manson and Donald Trump
Pisces Moon: The Dark Arts of Empire
by Douglas Valentine
Trine Day, £22.95
DOUGLAS VALENTINE is the best writer still writing about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
His books combine a deep scepticism of the agency’s myth-making machine with an almost intuitive understanding of the men and women who engage in some of its most duplicitous and nefarious actions.
From his explosive uncovering of the United States Phoenix Programme in Vietnam to the CIA’s support of numerous individuals engaged in multimillion-dollar drug-trafficking schemes, Valentine’s work has withstood the attacks on it and on their author.
Similar stories
RON JACOBS recommends a book that charts the disparate circumstances that defined the lives of two prominent black Afro-Americans — one a communist, the other an anti-communist
![SHAMELESS DISPLAY OF COERCION: Previously unreleased photos of Guantanamo captives, 2002, brought to Guantanamo Bay from Afghanistan by way of Incirlik, Turkey. [Pic: Staff Sergeant Jeremy Lock/CC]](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2025-11/cia%20web2.jpg.webp?itok=o_Dyxu_T)
GUILLERMO THOMAS enjoys a survey of the current state of the CIA (aka Langley) from an expert and insider of sorts
RON JACOBS is enthralled by an account of the surveillance and political repression on the left in the US
RON JACOBS welcomes a survey of US punk in the era of Reagan, and sees the necessity for some of the same today