Agent M

The British Secret Services have always captured the interest of Americans, with both the real and fictional characters becoming famous. Agent M is the story of Maxwell Knight, a successful, but eccentric and unorthodox spymaster. The book covers many of his successes, and failures, and presents a character that no fictional author would have dared to create.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* Hemming keeps the book somewhat light. The book relates events during the mid and latter 20th century, when Britain faces many serious challenges from both internal and external threats, but the book is not obsessed with the consequences. Rather, it focuses on some of the tactics and “nuts and bolts” of the spy game. The grammar and structure of the book made for an enjoyable reading experience, and the pages flew by.

* I learned quite a bit from the book. For example, while I appreciated the political struggles that went on in Britain between the wars, I hadn’t quite realized the level of conflict between fascist and communist groups, and was quite surprised by the political violence and street fighting between the groups. A good portion of the book is M’s exploits in penetrating and neutralizing these groups. Similarly, it was amazing to read of the meager financial compensation that agents were offered.

* M’s personality and foibles are what make the book worth reading. He ran a large division of MI5 from his apartment because he was fearful of “headquarters”, and shared his apartment with any number of recovering and rehabilitating animals. M had a marvelous talent for recruiting and running agents, and was not above giving agents a cover story that defied all logic…and was ultimately successful. 

* Hemming is an honest biographer, and does a reasonable job of documenting M’s successes and failures. He explores M’s strength and weaknesses as a spymaster, and makes a credible effort to integrate M with the events going on in Britain and the rest of the world.


=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* It was difficult to comprehend how M’s actions affected the larger picture. The book never really discusses the stakes that were being played for, nor the benefits of consequences of the intelligence campaigns described in the book.

* A number of characters popped up in the book with little or no introduction. I would concede that my knowledge of British political figures isn’t what it might be, but I occasionally found myself saying “Who?” as one of these figures emerged.


=== Summary ===

I enjoyed the book. You couldn’t make some of this stuff up-no one would ever believe it. There was a nice mix of war stories, analysis of personalities and a look at some lesser-known history. Real characters merged with fictional-and even John LeCarre makes an appearance.  I would have preferred a little more “big picture” material, but the book certainly held my interest. Anyone with an interest in the topic would enjoy the book.