Famous Spies: The Male Edition

Spy: (noun) “A person employed by one nation to secretly convey classified information of strategic importance to another nation.” When someone says the word spy, the image that pops into most people’s minds is James Bond (for us here at Historically Speaking that would be Sean Connery, the original,) but the father of modern-day espionage can be traced all the way back to the court of Queen Elizabeth I. But no matter what century you are playing your deadly game, spying often times isn’t as glamorous as it seems. Yes, you may be hobnobbing with the elites of society, but in order to not reveal your cover you have to be tough enough to survive some extraordinarily perilous circumstances, while at the same time being clever enough to convince your adversaries that you’re truly on their side. John le Carré, Ian Fleming and Frederick Forsyth had to base their novels on someone, could it possibly be one of these three gentlemen that we discuss here in Episode 26? We’ll let you decide.

BOOKS

Sir Francis Walsingham:

The Reign of Elizabeth: 1558-1603 by J. B. BlackQueen Elizabeth I by J.E. NealeElizabeth’s Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War That Saved England by Robert Hutchinson

 Wilhelm Canaris:

Canaris: The Life and Death of Hitler’s Spymaster by Michael MuellerThe Secret War: Spies, Ciphers and Guerrillas, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings 

 Richard Sorge:

An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent by Owen MatthewsStalin’s Spy: Richard Sorge and the Tokyo Espionage Ring by Robert WhymantThe Oxford Companion to World War II

 

FILM

Richard Sorge: Master Spy (2019) – Russian miniseries 12 episodes