Most Americans probably know Cambridge, England, as the site of one of Britain's most respected universities.
A few might recognize it as the setting for Kate Atkinson's novel Case Histories, Rebecca Stott's Ghostwalk and Robert Harris's Enigma. Sylvia Plath set a number of her short stories in Cambridge.
And here's some real trivia—Pink Floyd was formed here by founding members and former classmates Syd Barrett and Roger Waters.(Puts a whole new meaning to the lyrics "We don't need no education" in Another Brick in the Wall.)
But most of us probably don't know that Cambridge also has strong connections to the practice of espionage.
So it seems fitting that the first official writer-in-residence in Cambridge University’s 800-year-history is a thriller writer who often delves into spies and the world of international intelligence—New York Times bestselling author Ted Bell.
In addition to this unusual and prestigious position, Bell also will work as a visiting scholar at the Department of Politics and International Studies.
Bell's latest novel, Phantom, is, of course, about espionage. Counterspy Alex Hawke, making his seventh appearance in Phantom, hunts a madman about to unleash a new super weapon powered by Artificial Intelligence. In Phantom, Bell shows the dark side of Artificial Intelligence, an expanding area of cutting-edge science, and how it is being applied to modern-day warfare.
In Phantom, Hawke's search for a scientist who specializes in Artificial Intelligence takes him and his MI6 colleague Ambrose Congreve from California to France, Moscow, Cambridge University and the Persian Gulf.
Bell, who lives part-time in Palm Beach and Colorado, started his career in advertising and won myriad awards. By age 25 he'd sold his first screenplay and become the youngest vice president at the firm Doyle Dane Bernbach. In 1982 he joined Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, as a creative director, eventually becoming president, chief creative officer.
Credited with developing numerous innovative and award-winning advertising campaigns, Bell joined Young & Rubicam, London, in 1991 as Vice Chairman and Worldwide Creative Director. After 10 years at Y&R, Bell retired in 2001 to write full time.
In addition to the Alex Hawke novels, Bell writes the young adult series about adventurer Nick McIver.
