Product Description

A master criminal spy, a "man who never made a mistake" - the living prototype of James Bond - Sidney Reilly amassed a fortune through the ruthless bartering of influence and information while employed and feared by capitalists and commissars alike. A window into the pre and post-W.W.I era's secret underworld of political and economic intrigue, this extremely readable but academically reliable biography includes many illustrations and photos, plus information that has never before been seen by Russian and British intelligence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264204 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

Customer Reviews

An enigma wrapped in mystery
It seems odd that the few people in Britain who might recall the name Sidney Reilly might do so simply because Ian Fleming once said of his invention, 007, "He wasn't a Sidney Reilly, you know..." or, by basing their knowledge on Robin Bruce Lockhart's 1970s best-seller, 'Reilly, Ace of Spies', which spawned the famous TV mini-series. 'Trust No One' gets far closer to the truth (if such a word can be applied to Reilly) than anyone who has gone before.
As an author researching into one of Reilly's many areas of operation, the Bolshevik Revolution, I found that every time Reilly came into the frame he threw my narrative into confusion, and had it not been for Richard Spence's depth of erudition on this most perplexing of historical characters, I may well have thrown in the towel.
'Trust No One' is a quite an achievement. The research involved is mind-boggling, because Reilly had so many aliases and odd identities throughout his colourful life he is often hard to pin down. In the book's opening chapters Spence tries manfully to piece together Reilly's weird existence from arriving in Britain from Eastern Europe to his dealings in America and introduction into British Intelligence circles. The author picks his way skilfully through a minefield of false names and cul-de-sacs of intrigue, explaining, and, by sheer necessity, surmising as he goes. The intricacies of Reilly's business dealings and the surprising exposure of his many political duplicities not only clarify the many rumours and veiled hints around this odd man - they also, in many ways, add an extra patina of mystery to this spy, wheeler-dealer and agent provocateur who was the living embodiment of the phrase 'cloak and dagger'. Spence's revelations on Reilly's adventures in Bolshevik Russia demonstrate the craft of the investigative historian at it's zenith, and his flair for translation of obscure and newly-released Soviet material must ensure that 'Trust No One' will, for many years to come, remain not only as the standard source on Reilly, but also an oracle for all those interested in the roots of political intrigue and intelligence.
Exciting, masterful, this is a thoroughly enlightening page-turner, crammed with facts which will lure you into Reilly's bizarre heart of darkness. Highly recommended.

Enigma
Trust No One is perhaps the best researched account of the work of a British agent in Soviet Russia in the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution of 1918. Reilly's status is an enigma. We are never quite sure what he is doing or why, or at least his boss Mansfield Cumming "C" was not too sure sometimes. In particular mystery surrounds his last operation in Russia. It is one of those extraordinary stories that exited the imagination of his times and the curiosity of ours.