Robert Hutton > Quotes

“In 1942, Liddell confided a worry to his diary: ‘There is no doubt that the Russians are far better in the matter of espionage than any other country in the world.’ He continued, ‘I am perfectly certain that they are well bedded down here and that we should be making more active investigations. They will be a great source of trouble to us when the war is over.”
― Robert Hutton, Agent Jack: The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter

“Roger’s view is that the country is full of evilly-intentioned persons, but that there is no necessity to drag them out of their holes. They had much better be left to rot in obscurity, and will be swamped by the common sense of the community as a whole.’ As the operation continued, so did the debate within MI5 about its future.”
― Robert Hutton, Agent Jack: The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter

“Worse, it had revealed something about Britain that few wanted to acknowledge. The country told itself that, while other nations might be willing to goose-step or bend to the will of a dictator, such things were not in the British nature. But Roberts had found ordinary British men and women who didn’t just privately wish Hitler well, but were prepared to risk their lives to help him. Behind them were surely many more who would cheerfully have gone along with fascism if it had seemed the safest course.”
― Robert Hutton, Agent Jack: The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter