Spymaster

"Shortlisted for the St Ermin's Intelligence Book Award 2015 Spymaster: The Secret Life of Kendrick charts the extraordinary life of one of MI6's most senior officers in the 20th century. During the 1930s, Thomas Joseph Kendrick was placed at the heart of Europe's espionage hub - Vienna. There he crossed paths with the infamous Kim Philby and Edith Tudor-Hart, figures that would later rock the core of MI6. After Hitler's annexed Austria in March 1938, Kendrick was swamped by a human catastrophe of unparalleled proportions. He and his staff worked up to 12 hours a day to save over 200 Austrian Jews a day. But another dangerous game was at foot. Dubbed 'the elusive Englishman' by Hitler's Secret Service, Kendrick's real identity eluded the Abwehr for over a year, until finally, a double agent denounced him. Kendrick's arrest by the Gestapo caused panic, not only in Whitehall, but amongst MI6 circles. Was the European network of British spies now at risk? After Kendrick's sudden release from Gestapo headquarters in Vienna, he was unceremoniously thrown out of Austria. He returned to Britain, disappeared from public view, but not from the ranks of the British Secret Service… He re-emerged during the Second World War, operating first from the Tower of London, and became MI6's spymaster in chief against Nazi Germany. This is a story of betrayal, steely nerve and daring, but also honours a gentleman who bore the secrets of his nation to his grave with supreme loyalty. Out of the shadows of MI6 secrecy, his full story emerges for the very first time"--