Signey Reilly "Britain's Master Spy: The Adventures of Sidney Reilly."
A real-life James Bond, alleged to have spied for at least four nations and executed on the direct orders of Stalin himself, Sidney Reilly left a trail of false identities that made him precisely the type of person the secret intelligence service needed as an agent. Hero, conman, master spy, womaniser - who really was the 'Ace of Spies'? In September 1925, Sidney Reilly journeyed across the Russian frontier on a mission to overthrow the existing Bolshevik regime and restore the Czar. Yet, soon after, he vanished without a trace... Just like the life he led, the circumstances surrounding his death remain shrouded in mystery and speculation. This thrilling autobiography, including entries from Reilly's own secret notes, reveals the intriguing, and often perilous, adventures and exploits of the man widely credited as being the original twentieth-century super-spy - and an inspiration for Ian Fleming's 007 thrillers. The latter half of this dual narrative is provided by Reilly's wife, Pepita, who is on her own mission: to discover the truth behind her husband's disappearance. What did happen to the master of espionage?
Sidney Reilly: Sidney Reilly, the so-called Ace of Spies, was a womanising British secret agent who claimed to be Irish but was in fact Russian. He was awarded the Military Cross for his daring operations, meeting his death in Russia in 1925 after a sting operation by the Soviet Secret Service.
Hardcover, 1986.
New book. Very minor shelf wear from rubbing.