I found this book in a friend’s book shelf about two years ago. By the time I was done, it was a few days later, and I’d read the book cover-to-cover. Thrice. This was a mesmerizing book that drew me in within the first few pages, and refused to let go till the very end. Ernest Volkman’s “Spies..” is a gripping collection of the stories of some of the 20th century’s greatest spies, and a must read for spy thriller aficionados.

To the layman, James Bond is the archetypical spy- dashing, glamourous, calculating, ruthless and loyal. Of course, Bond wouldn’t last five minutes as a real spy. But Messrs Fleming, Ludlum & friends, and innumerable films have ensured that this romantic image of spycraft has set in stone. Espionage is a dark place which mystifies and scares, a heady mix of James Bond, cloaks and Hats, assassins, betrayal and glamour. The reality is more boring, shocking, horrifying, and exciting, all at the same time. Volkman’s 300 page book is a gripping introduction to the real world of espionage. Chronicling the lives of 50 famous spies of the 20th century, it packs an exciting punch that the Bourne Series would find hard to match; and gives credence to the “Truth is stranger than fiction” saying.

Volkman attempts to pack the lives of Espionage’s Hall of Fame into a few pages. Its hard enough but Volkman accomplishes that reasonably well by moving from one anecdote to another, while trying to capture the real spy-experience. He makes no attempt to brush away the unsavory aspects of the game, or romanticize them like in the novels. On the contrary, its addressed quite plainly, and shows the visceral brutality that nations will stretch to punish, coerce and intimidate; be it the slow roasting execution of Oleg Penkovsky, the technique of “discards”, where one lower ranked spy would be sacrificed to trap or prop up a higher one, or the communications officers who were regularly killed when they knew too much.

Then, there is the sheer terror of Beria’s Gulags, or the Chinese revolutionary war, a great chess game between two grandmasters, Kang Sheng & Dai Li- It’s a far cry from the romanticized world of Bond films. As Volkman says about the Russian mole Fritz Kauders (codename: MAX), “The Germans did not know that the Russians were biding their time. They had cold-bloodedly sacrificed entire units to bolster MAX, willing to trade lives to enhance his bona fides”. (Kauders would provide low level intelligence that won the Germans small battles, in effect, enhancing his credentials). It’s brutal, and yet, there is still the inherent allure of espionage that remains.

The mastermind of the famous “Rote Kapelle” (“Red Orchestra”) spy network was Leiba Domb, alias “Leopold Trepper”. As spying became too difficult inside Germany, he started operating just outside German borders, using inconspicuous clerical offices to gather valuable intelligence. France being required to pay for her occupation, the best accountants were used to account for every penny and all troop movements, an advantage that Trepper used to the hilt, warning Moscow of the date and details of the Invasion of Russia, right down to the Order of Battle. Unfortunately, Stalin tossed the information (and even ordered that Domb be executed; an order that was thankfully, not obeyed).

A similar fate befell the information provided by his counterpart in Japan, the legendary Richard Sorge (Codename: RAMSAY). A German communist, Sorge was sent to Japan to spy on Germany, and provided valuable intelligence that probably saved Russia. It was his information that Japan would not attack Russia that allowed them to pull troops from the Eastern Front, and effectively repulse the German attack. As the Japanese Secret Police, the Kempei Tai began closing in, he refused to escape, a sacrifice he made for his country. Ultimately, he was captured, a victim of a silly mistake. On the way to his paramour’s home to escape Japan, instead of burning an incriminating note, he threw it away, where it was recovered by the Kempeitai. Even under torture, right to the very end, he refused to acknowledge that he was a soviet spy. Executed in 1944, he was recognized by the Soviets only in 1964, a sobering ode to the disposability of spies; pawns in a greater game.

More recent examples include those like Eli Cohen, the famous Mossad spy in Syria, who got so close to those in power that he advised the Syrians on the Defence of Golan; so good that he was even considered for Syrian Deputy Minister of Defence. When the Six-day war started, the Israelis knew everything, from the Order of Battle right down to the names and families of the Syrian pilots. Most impressive are the accomplishments of the early spymasters- Felix Dzerzinsky, Lenin’s right hand, literally played the White Army like puppets, using their own money to fund his operations against them, thus solidifying the Bolshevik control of Russia.

There are the well known names like Ian Fleming, Kim Philby, Richard Sorge and Klaus Fuchs; but there are also the lesser known agents; Ruth Werner nee Kuczynski (Klaus Fuchs’ handler, who lived through the war in England as a simple housewife, repeatedly fooling MI6 with that image), and Wilhelm Wasmuss, the German Lawrence of Arabia. Then there are the spies who inspired the fiction- Dusko Popov, whose flashy and expensive lifestyles and notorious playboy were the inspiration for James Bond; Markus Wolf, the inspiration for Le Carre’s Karla, and others.

Overall, Volkman does a great job of telling their stories in the limited space he has. They are all chronicled in short, 10 page biographies that gives a good overview of their early lives, what motivated them, how they did it, and the earth-shaking effects this had on the world around them. Volkman is most effective in connecting their activities in the larger scheme of things, and how important everything they did was. The length of each story is just right- enough to interest and inform the reader, and not enough to bore them. He doesn’t allow the reader to get stuck in the intricacies of the trade, but keeps it simple and general, something that will surely aid the casual reader. The book, which includes a useful glossary of terms is divided into sections based on the spies themselves- the Moles, Defectors, Spymasters, the Legends and the Glamorous ones who weren’t good spies, but good celebrities (Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway and Mata Hari among them).

The knowledgeable reader will be annoyed by occasional lack of information, absence of references or footnotes and the many errors that dot this book. But considering the murky shadows where they came from, even the truth is probably suspect. Another grudge is the omission of some counter-intelligence experts, as well as famous spies like GARBO (Juan Puyol Garcia, who tricked the Nazi Reich using nothing but a shipping table, A map of England, and a glossary of Military terms, and was the inspiration for Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana). The Great James Angleton is conspicuous by his absence. Our very own R.N. Kao too would have ranked among the best spymasters, but the Cold War was probably more exciting to the author. More photographs would have been welcome as well.

For those not familiar with the spy world, this makes a great starting point, giving the reader a quick glance into the ways and means of the job, and a look into the best, and how they operated. If you already know much about espionage, this book still has enough anecdotes to keep you entertained.

Rating: 3.5/5

Details:

Title: Spies: The Secret Agents Who Changed the Course of History
Author: Ernest Volkman
Publisher: Wiley, New York
Year: 1994
Pages: 288
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471193615
ISBN-13: 978-0471193616

(S. Prasad is a freelance defence journalist. He is currently based in Singapore.)