Spies : the secret agents who changed the course of history

Description

Spies have long existed in the popular imagination as glamorous and shadowy figures. But how much is known about the real-life practitioners of the "black art" of espionage? In this enthralling look into the world of covert intelligence, renowned historian of espionage Ernest Volkman strips away the myths and Hollywood hype to reveal the actual human dramas behind "the world's second oldest profession." Spies is a twentieth century "Hall of Infamy" packed with gripping. True spy stories profiling many of this century's most notable agents, assets, sleepers, spymasters, and moles. These are the women and men whose espionage feats have, for better or worse, irrevocably altered the course of history. You'll read of the amazing exploits of legends such as:. "Counterfeit Traitor" Eric Erickson, the American businessman who, posing as a Swedish Nazi, helped stanch the flow of oil to Hitler's war machine and end the war in Europe;. Fritz. Kauders, the Viennese Jew who went from being a small time confidence trickster to become one of Germany's most valued spies and a Soviet double agent;. Amy Thorpe, the gorgeous American debutante turned superspy;. British agent 17F, Ian Fleming, author of some of the most outrageous (and effective) "dirty tricks" in the annals of spydom;. Dutch housewife turned burlesque dancer, turned secret agent Margareta Zelle, a.k.a. Mata Hari, who, contrary to popular belief, was. Neither beautiful nor a very good spy;. Brilliant Soviet superspy Richard Sorge, whose intelligence gathering operation in Japan balked Nazi Germany's attempt to seize Moscow. With wit and crisp, journalistic precision, Volkman recounts a number of surprising espionage curiosities, including Pope Paul VI's work for the C.I.A., Graham Greene's less than glorious stint as a British agent, and the bizarre story of "Papa's Crook Factory," Ernest Hemingway's amateur spy ring. In Havana. Also included are pioneers of modern espionage such as the hard-hearted "Fraulein Doktor," Elsbeth Schragmueller. The mother of modern intelligence training, she was the creator of the "discard," the deliberate sacrifice of one agent to protect another more important one from detection. Her story, along with others such as those of Laventri Beria, architect of Stalin's police state, and of Claude Dansey, the cantankerous and much reviled spymaster of Britain's. MI6, bring history to life. A solid reference work and an exciting read, Spies offers a uniquely intimate look into the shadowy world of espionage. �Read more...