Frederick West, the hero in my new novel, A Fierce Wind, wasn’t the only British spy in France during the French Revolution. There were many. Paris, of course, was a central target because of the centralization by the revolutionary government. The city became the French center of politics, power, intrigue, commerce and the army. The royalists and the British both established agents there. Money opened the doors to most of the ministries and government institutions, especially if one could pay in hard currency or gold as opposed to the rapidly deflating French assignats.
The most influential group of the period was the Paris Agency. Known as “La Manufacture” and “Les Amis de Paris”, it was created in 1791 by the Spanish ambassador to provide intelligence for the Spanish government. In 1793, the comte d’Antraigues used the information their letters contained to produce his own reports for his master Simon de Las Casas, the Spanish ambassador to Venice, which he also sent to the comte de Provence, who eventually returned to France as Louis XVIII.
The Paris Agency established a direct line of communication with the British government through Jean François Dutheil, the comte d’Artois’s representative in London. See MORE.
The most influential group of the period was the Paris Agency. Known as “La Manufacture” and “Les Amis de Paris”, it was created in 1791 by the Spanish ambassador to provide intelligence for the Spanish government. In 1793, the comte d’Antraigues used the information their letters contained to produce his own reports for his master Simon de Las Casas, the Spanish ambassador to Venice, which he also sent to the comte de Provence, who eventually returned to France as Louis XVIII.
The Paris Agency established a direct line of communication with the British government through Jean François Dutheil, the comte d’Artois’s representative in London. See MORE.
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