Although the thriller, "Utmost Good Faith", is intended as entertainment it is an acute and literary one. It gives detailed and rare information about Lloyd"s, and the almost unknown world of huge ships which travel the oceans loaded with cargo, and controlled by men whose arcane communities exist quite separately from those on dry land. The author has also travelled extensively in the near and middle East. A diplomatic mission lasting one year in Basra in the 70s, and involving excursions into the desert and others to Baghdad was constantly in mind when writing "Utmost Good Faith", as also were experience of the spy network and some of the characters encountered, and their cast of mind.