I bought a copy of 'The Conspirators' today by Geoffrey Bailey. 

It was described as the 'extraordinary story of intrigue between Russia and
Western Europe during the years before WW2'. (Copyright 1960 by Harper
& Brothers.)

The author lived and worked in the US and Europe and was 'clearly
well-informed'.

But who was he?

---

Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 01 Dec 2002 00:18 PST

Hi, Leli & Bowler.

I am sure that Leli has done the hard bit, by finding the right Geoffrey Bailey.

Now, please do the easy bit and reveal his real name.

My thanks to you both.

Kindest regards

Bryan

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 01 Dec 2002 05:24 PST

Here's a clue:

In the Intro, Bailey acknowledged 'Cass Canfield Jr'.

Turns out that Canfiled is (or was) Senior Editor at Harper Collins.

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Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 01 Dec 2002 23:21 PST

Hi, Leli & EFN

No ... I didn't know that Richard Spence had asked the same question
several years ago ... I've dropped him an e.

I've looked at Wedge ... and I think that Prince Vasilyichkov may be
getting close because Bailey dedicated his book 'To V, who knows'.

To me, this suggest that V was the prime source, rather than the
author.

According to his Postscript, Bailey was in New York 1956-1959. Also,
he lists many Russian and German language books in his Bibliography.
(Presumably, V might have also helped with translations.)

Good hunting!

Kindest regards

Bryan

---

Clarification of Question by probonopublico-ga on 02 Dec 2002 21:05 PST

Bailey was, indeed, Prince Vasilyichkov.

Well done everybody.

Who's going to post the answer?

Kindest regards

Bryan

Hi Bryan,

I found a web page identifying him as "Prince Vasilyichkov."  I
couldn't find any more information with the second name.

Bibliography from WEDGE:  The Secret War Between the FBI and CIA
http://www.secretpolicy.com/w_biblio.html


Search Strategy:

To find this, I ventured beyond Google and searched for "geoffrey
bailey conspirators" on www.alltheweb.com.


Since you have confirmed this identification and lost sleep due to my
modest forbearance to post an answer (as documented in question
120705), I am now emboldened to post this as your answer.

--efn

Oh you are BOLD!

Could this be him?  

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/bailey.html

The British Library thinks he was born in 1919:

Title:     The conspirators
Author: Bailey. Geoffrey. 1919-
Publisher Name: Gollancz.
Date of Publication: 1961
Description: 306p.,23cm
Control Number: b6106681
Shelfmark: W8/7582
Notes: Originally published, Harper,1960 

http://blpc.bl.uk/

There are a few comments on the book here:

://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:wvfDQbz6IdkC:intellit.muskingum.edu/uk_folder/ukinterwartrust.html+%22the+conspirators%22+geoffrey+bailey&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

The following is the entry for "Contemporary Authors" for who I think
is your man.  I've seen several library catalog entries amd they all
list Geoffrey Bailey as a pseudonym but I have been unable to find out
what his real name is.  They don't list the "Conspirators" as
attributed to him but I thought I'd pass on this info just in case:

Geoffrey (Basil Bailey) Hunter
1925-

                  Nationality: English
                                                           Entry
Updated : 10/23/2001

                  Place of Birth: Leeds, England

                  Table of Contents: 

                       Personal Information
                       Career
                       Writings


                  Personal Information: Family: Born December 14,
1925, in Leeds, England;
                  son of Joseph Walter (a clergyman, missionary, and
university teacher, who
                  spent twenty-seven years in China) and Margaret
Christina (a teacher before her
                  marriage; maiden name, Brownlee) Hunter; married
Patience Margaret Tate
                  (partner in a second-hand book shop), June 12, 1951;
children: Katy, Elizabeth,
                  Lucy. Education: Had his first schooling in Shantung
Province, China; later
                  attended schools in Sussex, England, and then Eton
College; New College,
                  Oxford, B.A., 1950, M.A., 1953. Politics: Labour.
Religion: None.
                  Military/Wartime Service: Royal Navy, 1944-46;
became sub-lieutenant.
                  Memberships: Aristotelian Society, Mind Association,
Association for Symbolic
                  Logic, Association of University Teachers, Society
of Authors. Addresses:
                  Home: Priormuir, by St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland.
Office: Department of Logic
                  and Metaphysics, University of St. Andrews, St.
Andrews, Fife, Scotland.


                  Career: Queen's University at Kingston, Kingston,
Ontario, lecturer in
                  philosophy, 1950-52; University of Leeds, Leeds,
England, lecturer in
                  philosophy, 1952-65; University of St. Andrews, St.
Andrews, St. Andrews,
                  Scotland, lecturer, 1965-66, senior lecturer,
1966-72, reader in logic and
                  metaphysics, 1972--. Visiting associate professor,
University of North Carolina
                  at Chapel Hill, spring, 1964.

                  WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:

                       Metalogic: An Introduction to the Metatheory of
Standard First
                       Order Logic, University of California Press,
1971, revised edition, 1973.

                       (Editor with Stanley Jeffers and Jean-Pierre
Vigier) Causality and
                       Locality in Modern Physics: Proceedings of a
Symposium in Honour
                       of Jean-Pierre Vigier, Kluwer Academic (Boston,
MA), 1998.

                  Contributor:

                       V. C. Chappell, editor, Hume, Doubleday, 1966.

                       W. D. Hudson, editor, The Is-Ought Question,
Macmillan, 1969.

                       W. B. Todd, editor, Hume and the Enlightenment,
Humanities
                       Research Center, University of Texas, 1974. 

                  Contributor to philosophy journals, to Queen's
Quarterly, Texas Studies in
                  Literature and Language, and Scope (film
periodical).
                  Source: Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group,
2001.

                  Gale Database: Contemporary Authors

Hi again Bryan

Easy? Or your toughest question yet? 
Did you know someone was asking the same question in 1997?

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=%22geoffrey+bailey+%22+-%22helen+west%22++-fyfield&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=Pine.HPP.3.95.970102122309.12639A-100000%40buzzard.csrv.uidaho.edu&rnum=1

Your clue is interesting but hasn't led me anywhere fruitful, I'm
afraid.

Leli

I found a web page identifying him as "Prince Vasilyichkov."  I'm not
posting this as an answer because I have no idea if the source is
credible.  I couldn't find any more information with the second name.

Bibliography from WEDGE:  The Secret War Between the FBI and CIA
http://www.secretpolicy.com/w_biblio.html

(To find this, I ventured beyond Google and searched for "geoffrey
bailey conspirators" on www.alltheweb.com.)