Life and Mysterious Death of Ian Mackintosh: The Inside Story of The Sandbaggers and Television's Top Spy

I've liked the Sandbaggers show since I first discovered it over 25 years ago, and slowly learned bits and pieces about its creator Ian Mackintosh. Folsom did an excellent job. The book is thoroughly researched. Yes, it's true, we're talking about a fairly marginal subject, but if like me you enjoyed the show, and have an interest in the Cold War and espionage, you too will take a liking to this book.

Arrived today in perfect condition. Loved the series so can't wait to read about its creator who disappeared at the end of filming the third and final series in mysterious circumstances.

I'm not finished with the book yet but I feel I've digested enough to form an opinion. There are no casual "Sandbaggers" fans. Anyone who is interested enough in the premise of the show to begin watching it becomes obsessive with it. I absolutely fall into this category. For that reason alone, I'm awarding this book five stars. Learning more about the background of the show helps to satiate the cravings I've been living with since the series cliffhanger (spoiler alert: the book suggests Willie was intended to be killed in Malta and not return as D-Ops in season four). The "Sandbaggers" material constitutes roughly half the book. The remainder of the book is a sparse, conjectural biography of Ian MacKintosh, the creator of the show. This is a substantially weaker part of the book. Maybe he was involved in field intelligence, maybe just an analyst, maybe SIS, maybe not. The author certainly seems to believe that MacKintosh was seconded to SIS but never makes the case convincing. There is a detailed examination of the air crash that cost him his life but it seems difficult to believe as the author hints that this was in any way linked to intelligence gathering. There is also some good background material on technical intelligence gathering by the Soviets and NATO in the 1970's. The book is very well written. The author does a good job weaving interviews and research into a cohesive narrative. However, the book is not well edited IMHO. It jumps around, tangents start but never end, and parts of the text are repetitive. This is partially driven by this being a pretty padded book - it easily could have been trimmed by 10-20%. But if you have gotten this far in reading my review, please do not let any of this discourage you from purchasing this book. If you care about Burnside, Wellingham, Peele, and the rest then PLEASE read this book. It is wonderfully satisfying to learn more about MacKintosh's vision for the program and hear how it came to be. It is also interesting (but not surprising) to hear from the actors who all felt that "The Sandbaggers" was something special and a source of pride. Thank you to the author for this love-letter to "The Sandbaggers" - long overdue. * * * * UPDATE - I apologize for never going back and updating the review after completing the book. My minor quibbles with the author were off-base. He actually circles back on Willie's being shot in Malta and ultimately agrees MacKintosh's disappearance was just a disappearance. I've re-read parts a couple of times now and it still a great read and I'm left wanting more. Thank you again for this great book!

Very informative details of the mysterious disappearance of the great and wonderful writer Ian MacKintosh. A must read for anyone who knew and loved this brilliant man.

I needed more info, after kinda randomly starting to re-watch Sandbaggers... been about 20 years since last viewing. It is an amazingly entertaining series. I wanted more, and ended up finding out about this book. Very well done book. I am enjoying it so much. Thank you to the authors :)