What do you think?
Rate this book
SHADOW OF A SPY - The Complete Dossier on George Blake
We sell Rare, out-of-print, uncommon, & used BOOKS, PRINTS, MAPS, DOCUMENTS, AND EPHEMERA. We do not sell ebooks, print on demand, or other reproduced materials. Each item you see here is individually described and imaged. We welcome further inquiries.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
13 people want to read
About the author
E.H. Cookridge
15 books2 followersE H Cookridge is the pseudonymn of Edward Spiro.
He used several other pseudonymns, including Peter Leighton, Peter Morland,
Ronald Reckitt and Edward H Spire along with probably his most famous, E H Cookridge.
As Cookridge, he wrote his first book 'Secrets of the British Secret
Service' in 1948 and this contained 'some highly coloured versions of true events'.
Most of his works under the Cookridge pseudonymn are concerned with spies and spying, including books on George Blake and Kim Philby.
He used several other pseudonymns, including Peter Leighton, Peter Morland,
Ronald Reckitt and Edward H Spire along with probably his most famous, E H Cookridge.
As Cookridge, he wrote his first book 'Secrets of the British Secret
Service' in 1948 and this contained 'some highly coloured versions of true events'.
Most of his works under the Cookridge pseudonymn are concerned with spies and spying, including books on George Blake and Kim Philby.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 10, 2023
An interesting read and a spy I knew little about. The author is at pains to point out that Blake was a traitor and responsible for many deaths (also not British born); modern spyographies, like Ben Macintyre's A Spy Among Friends, at a greater distance, tend to be more nuanced. Overall, somehow, Blake comes across as sympathetic, if mysterious; the description of his suffering on a Korean death march is as fascinating as it is horrifying, and the author concludes it's unlikely he was 'turned' by the attempts at Communist brainwashing he experienced as a prisoner.
January 25, 2015
Although George Blake was certainly as active a spy as Donald McLean and Kim Philby, his story has not been explored in nearly the same detail. Perhaps it is because his life was so much less glamorous than that of the Cambridge spies, who were born with a golden spoon in their mouths, went to the best English schools, hobnobbed with the right crowd and advanced their careers based on their extended network of old chums, rather than based on experience and knowledge.
In contrast, George Blake’s life was both more adventurous and more humdrum. He was born in 1922 as George Behar, the son of a Dutch woman and an Egyptian Jew with a British passport. After some activities in the Dutch Resistance during World War II, he spent time in England, then worked in the chaos of post-war Europe. At some point he was sent to Seoul as Vice-Consul. Shortly after, the Korean War erupted, and he was taken prisoner. He spent years in Korean prison camps, experiencing extreme cruelty and deprivation. And, strangely enough, it appears to be during this period that he became convinced that Communism was better for the world than the Western vision. It is never explained in the book how first-hand experience with the cruelty of the Korean Communist officers would imbue one with a firm belief that Communism was the way to go. Still, it appears that after he was released and returned to England, George Blake became a spy for the Communist states. He spent several years in Berlin, then a hot-bed of espionage and mis-information. With his superior’s agreement, he became a double agent… who was in reality a triple agent. It is said that the information that he passed led to the deaths or disappearances of more than 40 British agents, as well as to the discovery of an electronic eavesdropping tunnel in Berlin. He was finally arrested in 1961, when both a former associate and a Russian defector revealed his work for the Communists. During a trial that seems to have lasted only one day, including a 53-minute secret session, he was condemned to 42 years in prison, the largest prison sentence ever doled out in a British court.
After 5 years in prison, he escaped in a coup that was clearly staged by the Russians. He popped up in Moscow much later. He was active as an instructor for the KGB and associated with the Cambridge spies. And as of this writing, as far as anyone knows, he is a nonagenarian communist, still living in Moscow.
This book was published in 1970s, and written by someone who knew George Blake slightly. He attempts to trace the events that turned a young Dutch resistance fighter into a remorseless spy and traitor, who admitted at his trial that he passed so much information to the Russians that he couldn’t remember the details. Most of the people involved were still alive at that time, and they all expressed disbelief that George Blake, the quiet, hardworking family man, was a Communist and a spy. At the time the book was written, George Blake had escaped from prison but had not yet surfaced in Moscow, so there is much conjecture as to what had happened and where he might be.
Unfortunately, because so much of the evidence against George Blake was secret and confidential, the book doesn’t really help in piecing together what information he passed on to the Russians and who was his control. So while the book is interesting as a biography of George Blake, it doesn’t take us into the daily world of the spy. No thrilling stories of tradecraft. No details about packages left behind on public park benches and retrieved by an attaché from the Russian embassy. No late-night confessionals between spy and spy-runner. No flowery letters of appreciation from Moscow. All the things that make the stories of the Cambridge spies such juicy reading, are lacking. So while this is worthwhile book for people interested in Cold War espionage, it is not really one of those “truth is stranger than fiction” books. As a matter of fact, since George Blake didn’t confide in anyone (not even his beloved wife, who was totally taken by surprise by the news her husband had been arrested), no one really had much useful information about what went on his mind. The man who was simultaneously a hard-working, multi-lingual Foreign Office employee, a sober husband, a loving father and a self-contained spy remains an enigma.
In contrast, George Blake’s life was both more adventurous and more humdrum. He was born in 1922 as George Behar, the son of a Dutch woman and an Egyptian Jew with a British passport. After some activities in the Dutch Resistance during World War II, he spent time in England, then worked in the chaos of post-war Europe. At some point he was sent to Seoul as Vice-Consul. Shortly after, the Korean War erupted, and he was taken prisoner. He spent years in Korean prison camps, experiencing extreme cruelty and deprivation. And, strangely enough, it appears to be during this period that he became convinced that Communism was better for the world than the Western vision. It is never explained in the book how first-hand experience with the cruelty of the Korean Communist officers would imbue one with a firm belief that Communism was the way to go. Still, it appears that after he was released and returned to England, George Blake became a spy for the Communist states. He spent several years in Berlin, then a hot-bed of espionage and mis-information. With his superior’s agreement, he became a double agent… who was in reality a triple agent. It is said that the information that he passed led to the deaths or disappearances of more than 40 British agents, as well as to the discovery of an electronic eavesdropping tunnel in Berlin. He was finally arrested in 1961, when both a former associate and a Russian defector revealed his work for the Communists. During a trial that seems to have lasted only one day, including a 53-minute secret session, he was condemned to 42 years in prison, the largest prison sentence ever doled out in a British court.
After 5 years in prison, he escaped in a coup that was clearly staged by the Russians. He popped up in Moscow much later. He was active as an instructor for the KGB and associated with the Cambridge spies. And as of this writing, as far as anyone knows, he is a nonagenarian communist, still living in Moscow.
This book was published in 1970s, and written by someone who knew George Blake slightly. He attempts to trace the events that turned a young Dutch resistance fighter into a remorseless spy and traitor, who admitted at his trial that he passed so much information to the Russians that he couldn’t remember the details. Most of the people involved were still alive at that time, and they all expressed disbelief that George Blake, the quiet, hardworking family man, was a Communist and a spy. At the time the book was written, George Blake had escaped from prison but had not yet surfaced in Moscow, so there is much conjecture as to what had happened and where he might be.
Unfortunately, because so much of the evidence against George Blake was secret and confidential, the book doesn’t really help in piecing together what information he passed on to the Russians and who was his control. So while the book is interesting as a biography of George Blake, it doesn’t take us into the daily world of the spy. No thrilling stories of tradecraft. No details about packages left behind on public park benches and retrieved by an attaché from the Russian embassy. No late-night confessionals between spy and spy-runner. No flowery letters of appreciation from Moscow. All the things that make the stories of the Cambridge spies such juicy reading, are lacking. So while this is worthwhile book for people interested in Cold War espionage, it is not really one of those “truth is stranger than fiction” books. As a matter of fact, since George Blake didn’t confide in anyone (not even his beloved wife, who was totally taken by surprise by the news her husband had been arrested), no one really had much useful information about what went on his mind. The man who was simultaneously a hard-working, multi-lingual Foreign Office employee, a sober husband, a loving father and a self-contained spy remains an enigma.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews