Bernard Samson - Career in London

Career in London

Bernard quit being a Berlin field agent after a mission in which a friend was killed and he was lucky to escape to the West alive. Bernard is troubled by all the violence he both has suffered and inflicted and has recurring nightmares and drinks too much. Bernard hoped to get the German Desk but was passed over for Dicky Cruyer, an Oxford man with no field experience. Bernard now runs errands for Dicky, whom he considers incompetent and dangerous. Bernard is continually being tipped to take over the Berlin Field Unit if Frank Harrington ever retires.

Bernard's old friend Werner was sacked by the dept. after a cable he was delivering turned up in the hands of the KGB. At the start of the novels, Bernard's wife Fiona, who went to Oxford with Dicky and got her job through Bernard, is working on the top floor and is a rising star in the department. Much of what happened to Bernard was done in order to keep him in the dark about his wife's real mission and he is led to believe that she is a KGB agent who used him, betrayed all his missions in exchange for keeping him safe and then defected to the East. This has left him embittered towards the department and very cynical.

Bernard is very stubborn and believes he knows better than his superiors who are all just desk men. He trusts no one except for his old friend Werner. His secretive and suspicious ways often keep Bernard alive but they just as often get him into trouble and cause harm to many of those around him.