E. H. Cookridge was born Edward Spiro on 8 May 1908 in Vienna, the son of Paul and Rosa Cookridge Spiro. He was educated at the Universities of Vienna, Lausanne, and London. He worked as a foreign correspondent and editor for various British and American newspapers and later became a broadcaster both on the British Broadcasting Corporation and the American Broadcasting Company. As a correspondent he wrote under a number of pseudonyms including: Peter Leighton, Peter Morland, Ronald Reckitt, and Edward H. Spire. From 1939 to 1945 he served in Intelligence for the British Army. His first book was Secrets of the British Secret Service (1948). He was a prolific author, one of his most popular books being *The Third Man: The Truth about Kim Philby* (1968). Cookridge died in 1979.
Published
RC0033
The fonds consists mainly of materials related to his writing, as well as a large monograph collection.
The fonds has been arranged into eight series.
The fonds was purchased at auction at Christie's by Bertram Rota in April 1981.
No further accruals are expected.
There are no access restrictions.
Finding Aid](https://library.mcmaster.ca/finding-aid/cookridge)