Product Description

The amazing true story of the 1920's British spy who was to inspire Ian Fleming's "James Bond". Reilly was a master of subterfuge and this biography collates the means that made Reilly one of the world's best spies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #185130 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
"The figure who emerges... is more a confidence trickster, murderer and serial womaniser than a British hero"

Customer Reviews

Not the last word on the subject
This is a review of the 2008 reprint of the 2004 edition of this book.

This is a most difficult review to write. One does not want to give anything away that will detract from the readers' enjoyment of the book and yet the analysis of the quality of the book requires evidence to support claims. I have given it a 3 star rating but that is rather misleading. In many aspects the book is outstanding and Cook is to be congratulated on his achievements. However in other aspects it is at the other end of the spectrum. Fundamentally, Cook needed to find a good editor to modify his manuscript into something more worthy of the volume of the research work he has put in and the quality of the information he imparts.

Cook allows his personal opinion to colour the context almost every incident is reported within. For example when Reilly and Hill return to Southern Russia, at the request of "C", the chance to, once again, portray Reilly as a serial liar is taken "...Christmas Day was, according to Reilly, a very quiet affair, as were the New Year celebrations at the Kuban club in Ekaterubidar. In complete contrast, however, Hill recalls that the Celebrated New Year at the Palace Hotel in Rostov and refers in graphic detail to :..." and so it goes onto narrate a wild party that ends up with Hill leading the revellers up and down the stairs, into the attics to the strains of the Old Hunters' March. Having then made the claim, in this instance, Cook then debunks his own theory. One is using the Russian New Year and the other the Western New Year. So why make the first point of contrasting their apparently totally different accounts of the same event ? The assertion that Reilly is a serial liar has been made repeatedly throughout the text to that point. In that instance the counter evidence followed on the next page. In some cases small but important pieces of evidence are left out where it does not support the theme. British intelligence apparently wash their hands of Reilly in 1922 and yet not reported is the attendance of its Director Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming at Reilly's wedding on 18 May 1923 - hardly the actions of a senior official wanting to minimize all contact. It is noted that ex SIS colleague Capt Hill was a witness. The facts would far better stand without the repeated statement of opinion as to the conclusions.

What Cook has achieved is to bring a mass of authenticated evidence regarding Reilly into a single volume. There is a wealth of detail regarding all manner of other characters, 1st wife Margaret Reilly, 2nd wife Nadezhda and many, many others. This adds significantly to the story and gives the narrative extra dimension. Extracts from the Russian records are evidenced, with Cook providing excellent background information to place the material in a proper context - not everything on file is true - in espionage it depends who was telling you the tale and how much they were being paid.

What is frustrating is the compilation of the whole. It is as if during the construction, which must have taken several years, new sections have been added and others taken away and yet the original text not modified to accommodate them in a continuous narrative. On one page we might read about an incident where a character is placed in context, 2 pages later that same character is introduced to us as if we have not encountered him before. One is also constantly referring to the index to read ahead or back to find out if one had not been concentrating when another character enters the narrative un-announced. This seriously detracts from the readability of the work. I found that to progress my reading I needed to read the counter-point - Reilly Ace of Spies by Robin Bruce Lockhart, section for section, in parallel, to enhance my enjoyment and understanding of Cook's work.

What Cook has attempted to do is not an easy task and putting sufficient evidence in place to justify his case to those who would criticise him was never going to make it light reading. I think by the end I had probably had to read every chapter at least 3 times. Is it "the absolute last word on the subject" as claimed by some critics ? No certainly not. Primarily for the comments I have made above but also because Cook leaves 2 significant elements of the story unfinished. Cook returns on several occasions to a possible additional wife, married after the Russo-Japanese War. Cook contends that Reilly contacts her on several occasions and diverts from his journey to Moscow in 1918. The circumstantial evidence is there. Will hard documentary evidence be found to support this idea? Frankly, Cook has done an outstanding job unearthing all manner of other evidence, if he has tried and failed, then this probably will remain conjecture. The 2nd element we are left dangling on is: was Reilly betrayed by a mole within SIS? We are given 2 alternatives and very little supporting evidence. Nor is this element of the story narrated to the full extent given to less weighty issues elsewhere in the book. To a lesser extent we are also left somewhat in the air regarding his relations with his family. The assertion is made, twice, that Reilly kept in regular correspondence with Felista Rossenblum, his cousin. Yet we only have a single reference to that "regular" contact. There is also no reference to any possible meeting in Paris with either of his sisters, which is given credit in other works. This is a possible area for further study.

However these are minor issues. To even the casual aficionado of the "Ace of Spies" story, this work is a necessary addition to the collection

Ace of Spies
Very well written including up-to-date research possible since the downfall of Communism in the former USSR. Only criticism would be about the point scoring against other historians - this is not uncommon but there's quite a bit of it in this book

Amazing read
I really found this intersting, what a character. In many ways a complete conman but his work for this country was incredible, even though his motives may have been questionable. Why did I not know of this man before?