Richard “Rick” Spence received his doctorate in history from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981. He has taught at the University of Idaho since 1986, and he is a tenured full professor of history. He specializes in Russian intelligence and military history, and his course offerings include Modern Espionage, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, History of Secret Societies and the Occult in History.

Spence’s published works include “Boris Savinkov: Renegade on the Left” (East European Monographs/Columbia Univ. Press, 1991), “Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly” (Feral House, 2002) and “Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult” (Feral House, 2008). He is also the author of numerous articles in Revolutionary Russia, Intelligence and National Security, International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, The Historian, New Dawn and other publications. He has served as a commentator/consultant for the History Channel and the International Spy Museum and was a key consultant-interviewee for the Russian Cultural Foundation’s 2007 documentary film, “Leon Trotsky: The Secret of World Revolution,” and its subsequent “Trap for the Tsar.”

• Eastern Europe
• Espionage
• Holocaust
• Middle East
• Occultism
• Russia

Selected Publications

• American Spies in Revolutionary Russia (in progress)
• Wall Street and the Russian Revolution, 1905-1925 (Trine Day, 2017)
• With Walter Bosley, The Empire of the Wheel: Espionage, the Occult and Murder in Southern California (Corvos Books, 2011)
• Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult ( Feral House, 2008)
• Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly (Feral House, 2002)
• Boris Savinkov: Renegade on the Left (Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 1991)

Articles

• “The Voyage of the Shilka: The Bolshevik Revolution Comes to Seattle, 1917,” American Communist History, Vol. 16, #1-2 (2017), pp. 88-101.
• “Lights in the Sky:  A True Tale of Mystery Airships, Spies and Secret Cults in WWI Utah,”  Paranoia (May 2018),  http://www.paranoiamagazine.com/2018/05/lights-in-the- sky-a-true-tale-of-mystery-airships-spies-and-secret-cults-in-wwi-utah/
• “Who Created Hitler?,” New Dawn, Special Issue, Vol. 11, #1(2017), pp 23-31.
• “Death in the Adirondacks:  Amtorg, Intrigue and the Dubious Demise of Isaiah Khurgin and Efraim Sklyansky,” America Communist History, Vol. 14, #2, (2015), pp. 135-158
• “John Reed, American Spy?:  Reed, American Intelligence and Weston Estes’ 1920 Mission to Russia,” American Communist History, Vol. 13, #1 (2014), pp. 39-64.
• “The Tsar’s Other Lieutenant: The Anti-Semitic Activities of Boris L’vovich Brasol, 1910-1960, Pt. II, White Russians, Nazis and the Blue Lamoo,” Journal for the Study  of Anti-Semitism, (Dec. 2012).
• “The Tsar’s Other Lieutenant: The Anti-Semitic Activities of Boris L’vovich Brasol, 1910-1960, Pt. I, Beilis, the Protocols and Henry Ford,” Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism, (June 2012).

• Presenter, “Aleister Crowley, Sidney Reilly, Basil Zaharoff:  Their Influence on the Creation of James Bond and His World,” 30^th Annual Meeting of the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association, February 2009, Albuquerque, NM.
• “On the Trail of the Beast: Uncovering Aleister Crowley’s Intelligence Connections,” University of Idaho Interdisciplinary Colloquium presentation, September 2008.
• Panelist, public forum on Middle East, University of Idaho, April 2008.
• Commentator, Phi Alpha Theta Northwest Regional Conference, Gonzaga University,  Spokane, WA, April 2008.
• Public reading from Secret Agent 666, University of Idaho Library, April 2008.
• Address, discussion (with Gen. Oleg Kalugin). “Tea with Reilly”, International Spy Museum, Washington, DC, February 2007.
• Panelist, public forum on Iraq, September 2006.

• 2012, NROTC Faculty Excellence Award
• 2012, Nominated for UI Distinguished Faculty Award
• 2011, Nominated for UI Distinguished Faculty Award
• 2011, Recognized for Distinguished Service to the International Studies Program
• 2010, Fellow, Anti-Terrorism Program, Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, Tel Aviv (June 2010)
• 2010, NROTC Faculty Excellence Award
• 2009, University of Idaho Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence
• 2006 Nominated for University of Idaho Award for Advising Excellence
• 2003 University of Idaho, ASUI Outstanding Faculty Award
• 2002 University of Idaho Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence
• 2002 Nominated for University of Idaho, ASUI Outstanding Faculty Award