A 1930s KGB spy’s guide to London has been discovered in a bundle of MI5 files released to the National Archives.

The handbook was apparently seized by the Germans from a Russian agent captured in Paris during WWII. Later it fell into the hands of MI5 (the domestic security service).

It includes everything a good spy must know. from the best rendezvous points to tips for avoiding attention from the authorities. For instance, a flat in South Kensington was “definitely an asset” as the area has a good reputation with the police. And “Rendezvous should be arranged in the outlying districts. Thus one can pass through the central area with all its stores, museums, shops, subways etc to make sure one is not shadowed.”

Suggested rendezvous points included the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, the bandstand in Hendon Public Park, Chelsea Town Hall and the ABC Cafe opposite Ealing Broadway Underground Station.

Via Londonist The Daily Telegraph.