num_pages: 280
description: 'Morton always tells a good story and in this volume he has a good many tales to tell. ...All in all a fascinating book.' Military IllustratedBest-selling author James Morton tells the story of organized espionage, beginning with the British spy panic that prompted the creation of the fledgling MI5 and MI6 in one set of rooms, and tells how by the end of the First World War sophisticated networks like La Dame Blanche surveyed the Western Front.Featured alongside the first English officers are their frequently flamboyant French, Belgium, and German counterparts - from the hunchback dentist Wilhelm Klauer to the 'Grande (and lesser) horizontales' such as Mata Hari.So too are their controllers such as authors John Buchan and Somerset Maugham and men like Richard Tinsley who oversaw a network of some 2000 spies from Holland.From the decryption of the Zimmermann telegram to the execution of Edith Cavell, James Morton describes events that shaped history across Europe, America, and the wider world.Morton introduces us to a world of colourful characters and dark underhand dealing in which spies, driven often by a mixture of love, money, patriotism, struggled to survive.Researched internationally, this remarkable narrative draws on a wealth of published and unpublished sources including documents from the UK’s National Archives.Spies of the First World War is the first popular history of international espionage in the early twentieth century. It balances an accessible history of a profession fashioned by conflict with human stories of heroism and cowardice.James Morton (1938) is the author of The Krays in The National Archives 'Crime Archives' series and has written many books on organised crime. He was previously a defence solicitor and is a regular contributor to Military Illustrated.Praise for James MortonGangland Australia'Here are extraordinary snippets of Australian Criminal History… it certainly is an illuminating read' The Sydney Morning Herald.Praise for Spies of the First World War'A gripping and entertaining book.' Western Front Association'Brilliantly written....it is impossible to lay this book aside.' Family History MonthlyBrilliantly written....it is impossible to lay this book aside. Family History Monthly
language: English
title: Spies of the First World War
publisher: Sharpe Books