Author:Martin Pearce
'I cannot think of a better biography of a spy chief'
Richard Davenport-Hines, The Spectator
Sir Maurice Oldfield was one of the most important British spies of the Cold War era. A farmer’s son from a provincial grammar school who found himself accidentally plunged into the world of espionage, Sir Maurice was the first Chief of MI6 who didn’t come to the role via the traditional public school and Oxbridge route.
Oldfield was the voice of British Intelligence in Washington at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of JFK, and was largely responsible for keeping the UK out of the Vietnam War. Working his way to the top of the secret service, he took on the job of rebuilding confidence in the British Secret Service in the wake of the Philby, Burgess and Maclean spy scandals.
This is the fascinating life story, told in detail for the first time, of a complex, likable character as well as a formidable intelligence chief.
An exemplary biography... it is full of perceptive intimacies and plenty of tradecraft, subterfuge, deception and revelation. I cannot think of a better biography of a spy chief.
—— Richard Davenport-Hines , The Spectatora frank and clear-eyed, if affectionate, biography of a great public servant, cruelly traduced
—— Matthew Parris , Spectator, Books of the Year 2016An intriguing portrait of a brilliant man
—— Mail on SundayGripping and candid.
—— The TimesA welcome biography of a man able to combine warm family and personal relationships with hard-headed intellectual analysis, taking the cold decisions needed to succeed in the most unaccountable and secret of government agencies.
—— Richard Norton-Taylor , Guardian[Maurice Oldfield] was the first professional intelligence officer to make it all the way to the top and become Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service and he was a seminal figure in the creation of the modern MI6. An invisible legend, but a legend nevertheless.
—— Frederick ForsythA lively, readable and delightful portrait of one of the most charming men to emerge from the shadows.
—— Sunday TelegraphThis is the finest biography of a British Spymaster ever written. From Oldfield’s Derbyshire roots to the peaks and valleys of his MI6 career, the insights are revealing, the judgements are fair and the well-wrought narrative makes a compelling read. This is a marvellous addition to the historical literature of the secret world.
—— Jonathan AitkenDenied access to the official files but with the co-operation of former intelligence officers, Oldfield's nephew has produced an immensely enjoyable biography of the most important post-war spy chief of Britain's still very, very secret Secret Intelligence Service, revealing the previously unknown private person and the man who kept the British government informed during the Cold War.
—— Stephen Dorril, author of MI6: Fifty Years of Special OperationsA revealing study of this most unlikely of spy chiefs, the clever farmer’s son from Derbyshire who reached the top of the most class-bound of professions. Pearce paints a rounded portrait of an enigmatic personality, but one whose skilful reading of human nature and empathy with colleagues made him a popular ‘Chief’ of the Secret Intelligence Service in the dangerous days of the Cold War.
—— Roger Hermiston, author of The Greatest TraitorFuller and more rounded than previous accounts... Pearce amplifies and clarifies our image of a man who contributed significantly to the national zeal and, arguably, world peace.
—— Alan Judd , Literary ReviewA fascinating insight into the complex world of a master spy.
—— Charles Cumming, author of A Divided SpyRiveting.
—— Daily ExpressAmerican poet Ezra Pound… proves an elusive but fascinating subject in this non-linear, impressionistic biography
—— Juanita Coulson , LadyIsaiah Berlin is considered one of the letter-writers of the 20th century... those who give into temptation to flick through will be infinitely rewarded
—— Oxford TimesSparkles with brilliance and generosity
—— Jon M. Sweeney , The TabletMeticulously edited and footnoted.
—— Robert Fulford , National PostSo readable... wonderfully vivid portraits of Powell's famous acquaintances
—— The Mail on Sunday Books of the YearRichly and movingly enjoyable... a tapestry of Powell's contemporaries
—— The TimesPublisher's description. A biography of the comic writer Anthony Powell, author of the million-word masterpiece A Dance to the Music of Time, from renowned British biographer Hilary Spurling. An insightful and surprising look into what drove the writer widely regarded as the English Proust.
—— PenguinElkin is a beguiling writer, and resolutely female, her sentences doing what Virginia Woolf wanted women's sentences to do, which is to "hold back the male flood"… Flâneuse is a riposte to all that macho stomping about… Flâneuse is so rich with shining trinkets and wise thoughts that not a single page disappoints or bores. It's that rare thing these days - a work of feminism which is enthused by literature and art and ideas rather than pop culture.
—— Ellis O'Hanlon , Irish IndependentElkin explores the history of people and places in astonishing detail. She writes with a passion and personality that creates the kind of familiarity which encourages us to believe that the women she studies were close friends of hers… Elkin's first person, colloquial yet witty style lets you into the recesses of her imagination and invites you to be her travel companion
—— Oxford StudentLauren Elkin is one of our most valuable critical thinkers – the Susan Sontag of her generation
—— Deborah LevyThe acclaimed historian of Russia sweeps the brittle high society of pre-Revolutionary St Petersburg, the terror-chilled jails of Stalin's purges and the secrets of 1990s Moscow archives into a tragic panorama.'
—— INDEPENDENT, TEN OF THE HOTTEST BOOKS THIS SUMMERA seamlessly written and moving portrait of the soviet Union in miniature from the Revolution to the age of Yeltsin.
—— MAIL ON SUNDAYWhat is striking is how he has thrown himself heart and soul into the romance and emotion of his drama. The novel throbs with sex, maternal feeling, revolutionary fervour and terror ... Terrific stuff
—— SUNDAY TIMES
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