The autobiography of the so-called 'Ace of Spies', the master of deception Ian Fleming would later use as a model for James Bond. The first part of the book is Reilly's life as told from his personal notes, and more specifically his attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik regime in Russia and restore the Czar. The second part is written by his wife, Pepita, who, is determined to find out what really happened after his disappearance, searches Finland and Northern Russia for her missing husband.

Author Biography

Sidney Reilly, the so-called Ace of Spies, was a womanising British secret agent who claimed to be Irish but was in fact Russian. A bitter opponent of the Bolsheviks, he approached MI6 offering his services. Mansfield Cumming, the head of the British secret service, spotted immediately that Reilly was a crook describing him as 'very clever - very doubtful' but also recognised his genius as a spy. Reilly orchestrated a plot to overthrow the Bolshevik leadership which failed, but won the Military Cross for his daring operations undercover in Moscow. He returned to London a hero. At least two bigamous marriages were followed by a final mission to Russia in 1925, but Reilly was killed in a sting operation by the Soviet secret service.