Brian Harry Freemantle (10 June 1936 – 23 December 2024) was an English thriller and

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

writer, known for his 1977

spy novel Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intellig ...

'' Charlie Muffin''.

Life and career

Freemantle was born in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. He also published using the pseudonyms John Maxwell, Jonathan Evans, Jack Winchester and Richard Gant. He was a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

. Until 1975, when he became a full-time writer, he was a

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

and editor for various newspapers, including the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' and the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet. The ''Sketch'' was Conservative in its politics and populist in its tone during its existence through all its ch ...

''. In April that year, he organised the sole British-led

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of Materiel, supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material lo ...

rescue of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

ese civilians during the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

, assisting in the evacuation of 100 orphans, of whom Viktoria Cowley was one, aged approximately 18 months. In 1989, Brian appeared in the television documentary ''Borders'', alongside

Michio Kaku Michio Kaku (; ; born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist, Science communication, science communicator, futurologist, and writer of popular-science. He is a professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York and ...

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

, Margaret Randall, and

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

. In his interview, he discusses

transnational crime Transnational crimes are crimes that have actual or potential effect across national borders and crimes that are intrastate but offend fundamental values of the international community. The term is commonly used in the law enforcement and academic ...

border security Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

, narcotics smuggling, and his experiences being banned from the former

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Brian and Viktoria, now a grown adult, have been featured in a few documentaries together, the first being BBC One – The Airmail Orphan. He later made a promotional film for his own books, Open Road Media, in which Viktoria appeared. In another documentary from BBC One Northern Ireland, Viktoria introduces another Vietnamese adoptee from the flight to Brian. On 28 March 2018, they both appeared on BBC's The One Show talking about the airlift, adoption and Vietnam. Viktoria's son is named Harry, Brian's middle name, in recognition of

Operation Babylift Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other Western countries (including Australia, France, West Germany, and Canada) at the end of the Vietnam War (see also the Fall ...

on 6 April 1975. Viktoria and Brian were in regular contact after they first met in 2010; she is the first Vietnamese adoptee Brian has met and the only adoptee he remained in contact with. She told him, "You saved my life and those of every other child. On their behalf, and my own, I thank you." Freemantle died from Parkinson's disease on 23 December 2024, at the age of 88.

Bibliography

Standalone novels

* ''Goodbye to an Old Friend'' (1973) * ''Face Me When You Walk Away'' (1974) * ''The Man Who Wanted Tomorrow'' (1975) * ''The November Man'' (1976) * ''The Vietnam Legacy'' (1984) * ''The Lost American'' (1984) * ''Rules of Engagement'' (1984) (Originally written as The Vietnam Legacy in 1984) * ''Deaken's War'' (1985) (Originally written as Jack Winchester in 1982) * ''The Kremlin Kiss'' (1986) (Originally written as The Lost American in 1984) * ''Dirty White'' (1986) (Originally written as Jonathan Evans, The Laundryman (1985)) * ''The Choice of Eddie Franks'' (1987) (Originally written as Jack Winchester in 1986) * ''The Bearpit'' (1988) * ''Betrayals'' (1989) * ''The Factory'' (1990) S* ''O'Farrell's Law'' (1990) * ''Little Grey Mice'' (1991) * ''Kremlin Conspiracy'' (1997) (Originally written as Jonathan Evans, Monopoly (1984)) * ''At Any Price'' (1998) (Originally written as Jonathan Evans, chairman of the board (1982)) * ''Gold'' (1998) (Originally written as Jonathan Evans, The Midas Men (1981)) * ''The Iron Cage'' (1999) (Originally written as Jack Winchester, The Solitary Man (1980)) * ''Washington White'' (1999) * ''Target'' (2000) * ''Hell's Paradise'' (2001) (Originally written as John Maxwell, HMS Bounty in 1977) * ''Ice Age'' (2002) * ''Two Women'' (2003) * ''Dead End'' (2004) * ''To Save a Son'' (2006) (Originally written as Jack Winchester, The Choice of Eddie Franks in 1986) * ''Time to Kill'' (2006) * ''The Namedropper'' (2007) * ''The Cloud Collector: A Thriller'' (2015)

Charlie M/Muffin novels

Charlie Muffin, English spy, contends with the Russians and his superiors during the Cold War and moving to modern times. The disheveled, slow-moving anti-hero has the wits to win, sometimes. * '' Charlie Muffin'' (1977) a.k.a. ''Charlie M.'' * ''Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie'' (1978) a.k.a. ''Here Comes Charlie M'' * ''The Inscrutable Charlie Muffin'' (1979) * ''Charlie Muffin's Uncle Sam'' (1980) a.k.a. ''Charlie Muffin U.S.A.'' * ''Madrigal for Charlie Muffin'' (1981) * ''Charlie Muffin and Russian Rose'' (1985) a.k.a. ''The Blind Run'' * ''Charlie Muffin San'' (1987) a.k.a. ''See Charlie Run'' * ''The Run Around'' (1988) * ''Comrade Charlie'' (1989) * ''Charlie's Apprentice'' (1993) * ''Charlie's Chance'' (1996) a.k.a. ''Bomb Grade'' * ''Charlie's Choice: The First Charlie Muffin Omnibus'' (1997) * ''Dead Men Living'' (2000) * ''Kings of Many Castles'' (2001) * ''Red Star Rising'' (2010) * ''Red Star Burning'' (2012) * ''Red Star Falling'' (2013)

Cowley and Danilov Series

U.S. FBI agent teams with Russian policeman solving cases from murder to terrorism, always with international implications. More procedural than who-done-it. * ''The Button Man'' (1992), reissued 2011 as ''In the Name of a Killer'' * ''No Time for Heroes'' (1994) * ''The Watchmen'' (2002) * ''Triple Cross'' (2004)

Non-fiction

* ''KGB: Inside the World's Largest Intelligence Network'' (1982) * ''CIA: The 'Honourable' Company'' (1983) * ''The Fix: Inside the World Drug Trade'' (1986) * ''The Steal: Counterfeiting and Industrial Espionage'' (1987) * ''The Octopus: Europe in the Grip of Organized Crime'' (1995)

As Harry Asher

* ''The Predators'' (1988)

As Richard Gant

* ''Ian Fleming: Man with the Golden Pen'' (1966) a.k.a. ''Ian Fleming: The Fantastic 007 Man'' * ''Sean Connery, Gilt-Edged Bond'' (1967) * ''The Touchables'' (1968)

As Andrea Hart

* ''A Mind to Kill'' (1998) * ''The Return'' (1999)

As John Maxwell

* ''H.M.S. Bounty'' (1977) a.k.a. ''Hell's Fire'' (2011) * ''The Mary Celeste'' (1979)

As Jack Winchester

* ''Deaken's War'' (1982)

References

External links

*
Bibliography
at fantasticfiction.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freemantle, Brian 1936 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English biographers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century English novelists British historians of espionage Daily Mail journalists English non-fiction crime writers English political journalists English reporters and correspondents English spy fiction writers English thriller writers Historians of the Central Intelligence Agency Writers from Southampton War correspondents of the Vietnam War 21st-century English biographers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers