As a child and young man, I was a voracious reader of 19th century seafaring novels and obscure early 20th century adventures about spies and bomb-carrying anarchists in Europe.  I had fire in my belly and the books I read helped fuel it.  But I always wanted to translate the escapism of the books into a life of real adventure.  So, when MI6 tapped me on the shoulder after I left university, I accepted its offer of employment without hesitation. I was an MI6 field operative who worked at the sharp end.  I travelled the world alone, met the bravest men and women, did great things, terrible things, hard things, witnessed unbelievable heroism, and saw deprivation, sorrow, love, compassion and death. Some of the things I saw and actions I made affected me but not as much as you may think.  I was young, fuelled by my passion for adventure and an unrelenting motivation to combat bad people’s intentions towards the west. I have the luxury of pausing and looking back at that life now.  I am older, wiser and have a few more inches on my waistline.  But I never paused for a moment in those days.  Not once….