About the author

Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (Swedish pronunciation: [¹jɑːn ɡɪ¹juː], French: [ɡiju]; born 17 January 1944) is a French-Swedish author and journalist. Among his books are a series of spy fiction novels about a spy named Carl Hamilton, and a trilogy(+) of historical fiction novels about a Knight Templar, Arn Magnusson. He is the owner of one of the largest publishing companies in Sweden, Piratförlaget (Pirate Publishing), together with his wife, publisher Ann-Marie Skarp, and Liza Marklund.

Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist. In 1973, he and co-reporter Peter Bratt exposed a secret intelligence organization in Sweden, Informationsbyrån (IB). He is still active within journalism as a column writer for the Swedish evening tabloid Aftonbladet.

In October 2009, the tabloid Expressen accused Guillou of having been active as an agent of the Soviet spy organization KGB between 1967 and 1972. Guillou confirmed he had a series of contacts with KGB representatives during this period, he also confirms having received payments from KGB, but maintains that his purpose was to collect information for his journalistic work. The accusation was based on documents released from the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) and interviews with former KGB Colonel Oleg Gordievsky. In a later trial, Expressen denied having accused Guillou of having been a Soviet spy, claiming that this was a false interpretation of its headlines and reporting.

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Heksenes forsvarere

En historisk reportage

Heksenes forsvarere er en historisk reportage, hvor dokumentariske skildringer kobles med forfatterens ræsonnementer, så resultatet er en fascinerende og tankevækkende fortælling.
I 1600-tallet blev et stort antal kvinder brændt på bålet med støtte i de gammeltestamentlige love. Det, der begyndte som en lille piges fantasier, voksede til et stort justitsmord. Men hekseprocesser er ikke bare en historisk foreteelse, det er blot den historiske scenografi, der skifter.
Guillou går løs på vedtagne sandheder. Han river den ene mytedannelse efter den anden ned. Han affærdiger teorierne om, at hekseprocesserne er klassekampbetingede eller en sammensværgelse blandt mandlige læger mod kloge koner og finder i stedet belæg for, at de blev drevet frem af præster sammen med en ophedet folkelig opinion.
Guillou viser massehysteriets mekanismer og følger sporene fra heksenes bål frem til vore dages fortrængte incesterindringer og pædofilisager, hvor psykologer og psykoterapeuter har overtaget landsbypræsternes rolle. Konklusionen er ikke opmuntrende: Tilsyneladende har vi intet lært af historien.
Studierne af kildeskrifterne indebærer også et grundskud mod de psykologer, som hævder at børn ikke kan lyve om seksuelle ting. De kunne i de i al fald i 1600-tallet og det med en fantasi, som ikke lader senere tiders fantasyforfattere og pornofilminstruktører noget efter.

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Edition4
Printed pages379
Publish date23 Oct 2009
Published byModtryk
Languagedan
ISBN print9788770533553
ISBN audio9788770071994