Author Archives: Jonathan Ancer

About Jonathan Ancer

I'm a journalist, cryptic crossword junkie, podcaster, enthusiastic cyclist, Billy Bunter book collector and a Billy Bragg stalker. I have written five books: The Victor Within; Spy: Uncovering Craig Williamson; Betrayal: The Secret Lives of Apartheid Spies; Joining the Dots: The Unauthorised Biography of Pravin Gordhan (with Chris Whitfield); and Mensches in the Trenches: Jewish Foot soldiers in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle I love words and will post some of the columns and articles I have written over the years on this blog. They include: View from the G-spot (my time as editor of a community newspaper in Grahamstown), Virgin Cyclist (the build up to my first Cape Town Cycle Tour), Pop psychology (my take on fatherhood), Angry Utterances (10) (how crossword puzzles unlock the world's secrets and the meaning of life), as well as profiles and features I've written for the Sunday Times. I launched the Independent Newspapers Cadet School in 2010 and have been freelancing as a journalist/editor/media trainer since leaving the company in 2014. I've also produced a podcast biography series called Extraordinary Lives and an authors' podcast called Amabookabooka.