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

I 1667 mødes en fantasifuld pige og en nidkær præst i en landsby i Sverige. Det bliver startskuddet til en psykisk epidemi, der sender over 300 mennesker i døden – dømt som hekse.  Jan Guillou følger i sin historiske reportage sporene fra heksenes bål frem til vore dage, og han genfinder de massepsykologiske mekanismer bag hekseprocesserne i sager om djævelske pædofilisekter og falske incesterindringer, hvor psykologer og terapeuter har overtaget landsbypræstens rolle. Konklusionen er ikke opmuntrende: Tilsyneladende har vi intet lært af historien. Det er en djævelsk god bog, Jan Guillou har skrevet om 1600-tallets svenske hekseprocesser. Steffen Heiberg, Politiken Det er uhyggelig, rystende - og medrivende læsning. Fordi det er en barsk indsigt i massehysteriets anatomi - dengang og nu. Holger Ruppert, B.T. Guillou kan sit journalistiske kram. Det er spændende som en af hans romaner at læse ""Heksenes forsvarere"", og hans påstand om lighederne mellem før og nu bør mane til eftertanke. Jyllands-Posten
11,07  EUR
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Edition5. udgave
Printed pages379 Sider
Publish date16 Jun 2010
Published byModtryk
Languagedan
ISBN epub9788770534895
ISBN audio9788770071994