- Published: 16 April 2018
- ISBN: 9781784752040
- Imprint: Arrow
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 416
- RRP: $29.99
M
Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster
- Published: 16 April 2018
- ISBN: 9781784752040
- Imprint: Arrow
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 416
- RRP: $29.99
Crammed with cracking stories and founded on sound research, Henry Hemming’s biography of Maxwell Knight – ‘M’ – stands comparison with the bestselling books of Ben Macintyre.
Adam Sisman (Author of John Le Carré)
Absolute proof that assiduous digging in the archives can produce scoops. This is intelligence research at its best, especially in the identification of hitherto anonymous agents. Definitely a great contribution to the literature.
Nigel West (Author of MI5)
A fascinating portrait of a complex man. Espionage writing at its best.
Charles Cumming (Author of A Divided Spy)
I raced through Henry Hemming's book, constantly having to remind myself that it wasn't a work of fiction. It really has everything you'd want from a great espionage story: incredible agents risking their lives; the highest possible stakes, with the safety of the world hanging in the balance; and at its heart a complicated, mercurial spy master in Maxwell Knight spinning an ever more intricate web.
Matt Charman, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 'Bridge of Spies'
A major new biography
Mail on Sunday
Hemming has written a very readable, thoughtful and comprehensive account
Alan Judd, Literary Review
Fascinating biography ... Hemming has done a superb job
Ben Macintyre, The Times, 'Book of the Week'
Engaging and suspenseful
Financial Times
Lively contribution to a maverick literature
The Observer
Henry Hemming has found a peach of a subject... Full of new material, fresh interpretations and uncompromising integrity... He has managed the great feat of producing a rattling good read that is also a major piece of revisionist history
Richard Davenport-Hines, Wall Street Journal
‘Compelling new biography… Hemming has done a wonderful espionage job of his own, scouring obscure files to bring long-hidden agents and their exploits to light. It is also a gripping portrait of an era, now long gone, when the establishment could accommodate such extravagant oddness.
Daily Telegraph
Excellent biography… The author has done a terrific job of unscrambling Knight’s muddled life
The Sunday Times
Jaw-droppingly revelatory biography. *****
Mail on Sunday
A cracking read, which both informs and entertains in equal measure.
Robin Handbury-Tenison, Country Life
Henry Hemming's excellent new life of Maxwell Knight [...] the most convincing, balanced and intricate biography of this extraordinary figure.
Alex Bughart, The Spectator
‘A terrific life of the brilliant and eccentric spymaster’
The Sunday Times
A jaw-droppingly revelatory biography
EVENT magazine, Mail on Sunday
The odd chap is brought to life
The Times
This is a terrific book, well researched and superbly written
The Guardian
a fascinating biography
Keith Simpson MP’s Summer Reading List
This is a terrific book, well researched and superbly written
The Guardian
Hemming tells a story of great interest, bringing to light the exploits of an eccentric and magnetic personality, a man able to keep his professional and private lives rigorously separate and who fully justifies his posthumous reputation
Catholic Herald
Hemming gives an engrossing account of the remarkable life of a great eccentric
Daily Mail