Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms by Paul Willetts

Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms by Paul Willetts

'Researched with almost breath-taking depth and ingenuity, this is a compelling story of swirling political and personal cross-currents at the time of our gravest national danger' David Kynaston Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms provides the first comprehensive account of what was once hailed by a leading American newspaper as the greatest spy story of World War II. This dramatic yet little-known saga, replete with telephone taps, kidnappings, and police surveillance, centres on the furtive escapades of Tyler Kent, a handsome, womanising 28-year-old Ivy League graduate, who doubles as a US Embassy code clerk and Soviet agent. Against the backdrop of London high society during the so-called Phoney War, Kent's life intersects with the lives of the book's two other memorably flamboyant protagonists. One of those is Maxwell Knight, an urbane, endearingly eccentric MI5 spyhunter. The other is Anna Wolkoff, a White Russian fashion designer and Nazi spy whose outfits are worn by the Duchess of Windsor and whose parents are friends of the British royal family. Wolkoff belongs to a fascist secret society called the Right Club, which aims to overthrow the British government. Her romantic entanglement with Tyler Kent gives her access to a secret correspondence between President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, a correspondence that has the potential to transform the outcome of the war. 'As engrossing as a John le Carre thriller' Choice 'A compelling story equal to some of the best crime fiction' We Love This Book 'A welcome addition to a neglected aspect of World War Two nonfiction' Catherine Arnold 'A tale of Nazi spies among London's elite has all the colour of a first-class thriller' The Observer 'A gripping tale' Financial Times 'A gripping account of what was once hailed as the greatest spy story of the Second World War' Tatler 'Entertaining non-fiction at its best' The Bookseller 'A book that is a valuable addition to Intelligence history as well as an exciting tale itself' The Tablet 'A postwar real-life Second World War spy sage by Herald Magazine favourite Paul Willetts' The Herald 'Powerful and hugely entertaining read' Press Association

Researched with almost breathtaking depth and ingenuity, this is a compelling story of swirling political and personal cross-currents at the time of our gravest national dangerDavid Kynaston Rich in period detail, and wonderfully evocative of the strange early months of the Second World War... Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms is as engrossing as a John le Carre thriller. -- Simon Evans Choice magazine Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms is entertaining non-fiction at its best... The writing is engaging, pulling the narrative from character to character. Willetts manages to form a sense of suspense more rigid tellings lack... Willetts has utilised a wonderful way of digesting history... a compelling story equal to some of the best crime fiction. We Love This Book Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms is a fascinating and vivid slice of espionage history... a welcome addition to a neglected aspect of World War Two non-fiction. The book is a beautifully written example of a classic covert operation conducted by MI5's eccentric and charismatic Maxwell Knight to outwit a nest of Nazi sympathisers in the twilight world of wartime London. The protagonists leap off the page... Willetts really brings the shadow world of the London blackout alive in a haze of cocktail parties, nightclubs, secret meetings and old-fashioned tradecraft... it reads like a spy novel, and - even though the outcome is obvious - I couldn't put it down and read it in a weekend. Willetts wears his learning lightly and leaves us with a vivid account of two repellent and deluded individuals. -- Catherine Arnold A tale of Nazi spies among London's elite has all the colour of a first-class thriller The Observer A gripping tale Financial Times A gripping account of what was once hailed as the greatest spy story of the Second World War Tatler Entertaining non-fiction at its best The Bookseller A book that is a valuable addition to Intelligence history as well as an exciting tale itself The Tablet A postwar real-life Second World War spy sage by Herald Magazine favourite Paul Willetts The Herald Powerful and hugely entertaining read Press Association

Paul Willetts made his literary debut in 2003 with Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia, a biography of the bohemian writer and dandy, Julian Maclaren-Ross. His second book was North Soho 999: A True Story of Gangs and Gun-crime in 1940s Soho, a narrative non-fiction police procedural. He is also the author of Members Only, a life of Paul Raymond, which was adapted into The Look of Love, starring Steve Coogan. He has written for The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Spectator, History Today, and The TLS.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9781472119858
ISBN 10	1472119851
Titel	Rendezvous at the Russian Tea Rooms
Autor	Paul Willetts
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Little, Brown Book Group
Erscheinungsjahr	2015-10-01
Seitenanzahl	496
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar