Agent M

The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight

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By Henry Hemming

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$28.00

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$36.50 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around May 9, 2017. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

The fascinating, improbable true story of Maxwell Knight — the great MI5 spymaster and inspiration for the James Bond character M.

Maxwell Knight was perhaps the greatest spymaster in history. He did more than anyone in his era to combat the rising threat of fascism in Britain during World War II, in spite of his own history inside this movement. He was also truly eccentric — a thrice-married jazz aficionado who kept a menagerie of exotic pets — and almost totally unqualified for espionage.

Yet he had a gift for turning practically anyone into a fearless secret agent. Knight’s work revolutionized British intelligence, pioneering the use of female agents, among other accomplishments. In telling Knight’s remarkable story, Agent M also reveals for the first time in print the names and stories of some of the men and women recruited by Knight, on behalf of MI5, who were asked to infiltrate the country’s most dangerous political organizations.

Drawing on a vast array of original sources, Agent M reveals not only the story of one of the world’s greatest intelligence operators, but the sacrifices and courage required to confront fascism during a nation’s darkest time.
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On Sale
May 9, 2017
Page Count
384 pages
Publisher
PublicAffairs
ISBN-13
9781610396844

Henry Hemming

About the Author

Henry Hemming is the author of seven books, including Agents of Influence, Agent M, and The Ingenious Mr. Pyke, which landed on the New York Times monthly espionage bestseller list. He has written for The Economist, FT Magazine and The Washington Post, and has given interviews on Radio 4’s Today Programme and NBC’s Today Show.

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