Readers who like their books packed with spies, wartime escapes and secret missions will have plenty to look out for at this year's Wells Festival of Literature.

Best-selling author Damien Lewis and intelligence historian Rory Cormac are both set to appear, bringing stories of Second World War daring and Cold War deception to Wells.

Lewis will discuss his latest book, Behind Enemy Lines, which tells the story of Second World War hero Archie Gibson. Gibson was a member of the Long Range Desert Group patrols, the forerunners of the SAS, who carried out audacious missions behind enemy lines.

His introduction to desert warfare almost proved fatal. While driving through sand dunes at the wheel of his truck, Gibson saw the flash of a German gun and leapt from the moving vehicle shortly before it became a flaming inferno.

Lewis has written numerous books on the Second World War, including The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. The book was adapted into a 2024 film directed by Guy Ritchie.

Cold War secrets will also be on the programme when Rory Cormac appears with Fakers. The book explores Britain's forgery operations and the mavericks who ran them in the shadowy world of espionage.

Cormac's book follows an audacious secret mission to disrupt adversaries around the world as states competed beneath the threat of nuclear war. Newly declassified files reveal a story of intrigue, deception and unusual characters, including an Austrian refugee and a hard-drinking journalist.

The two appearances add a distinctly cloak-and-dagger strand to this year's programme.

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