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Operation Kronstadt
Operation Kronstadt not only reveals the early days of Britain's intelligence services but uncovers a truly dramatic story from the Russian Revolution involving a daring rescue attempt and a 'mission impossible' against the best defended naval target in Russia. By May 1919, when the power struggle between former Tsarists and Bolsheviks hangs in the balance, the only British agent in Russia is trapped and in mortal danger. Mansfield Cumming, the first 'C', dreams up an audacious - probably suicidal - plan to rescue him, and a young naval officer is sent with a specially selected team into the jaws of the Soviet fleet. This is the remarkable story of the spy, Paul Dukes, (the only MI6 officer to be knighted for work in the field), and of Gus Agar, whose extraordinary escapade won him the Victoria Cross.
382 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
October 4, 2024
It's a book I want to award 5 stars - purely because it details the heroism of Augustus Agar. Britain's Greatest Spy, Sir Paul Dukes, The Man with a Hundred Faces, rescued himself. He was escaping Bolshevik Russia and MI6 put in place a rescue plan commanded by Augustus Agar: for umpteen reasons the rescue never came off. Paul Dukes knew a rescue plan was in place, but circumstance led to him making his own way out of country.
It's important to recognise the courage of the naval force sent to action this rescue plan and what they did, at great risk, to achieve this. It's also important to recognise the fact that Paul Dukes was Britain's Greatest Spy and possessed immense courage, wit and an ability to stay ahead of those hunting him.
The author also does himself no favours by unnecessarily dragging into this the early life of Paul Dukes and the trauma he suffered: he tries to justify this outrageous exposure of a young man's plight by suggesting it helped prepare him for a life as spy. Paul Dukes never at any point wanted to be a spy, thought of being a spy, was trained as a spy. He was asked by the head of SIS if he would help and he, as a patriot and a man who cared for people, agreed.
It's important to recognise the courage of the naval force sent to action this rescue plan and what they did, at great risk, to achieve this. It's also important to recognise the fact that Paul Dukes was Britain's Greatest Spy and possessed immense courage, wit and an ability to stay ahead of those hunting him.
The author also does himself no favours by unnecessarily dragging into this the early life of Paul Dukes and the trauma he suffered: he tries to justify this outrageous exposure of a young man's plight by suggesting it helped prepare him for a life as spy. Paul Dukes never at any point wanted to be a spy, thought of being a spy, was trained as a spy. He was asked by the head of SIS if he would help and he, as a patriot and a man who cared for people, agreed.
November 17, 2022
A good many pages of this book cover the life and career of "Captain Mansfield Cumming RN, the head of MI1C, the foreign section of the British Secret Service Bureau, the organisation which we know today as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) or, more commonly, as MI6." Mr Ferguson goes as far as to entertain us with suggestions of Cumming's eye for the more young and attractive lady, furnishing MI1C with as many as he could find. Mr Ferguson then goes on to list a series of failings he attributes to the head of MI1C. It adds nothing to the reader's understanding of Operation Kronstadt, I therefore ask, why?
An even greater number of pages are devoted to the life and career of Paul Dukes: all of which, and far more, can be found when you read 'Red Dusk and the Morrow', written by Sir Paul Dukes.
Sir Paul Dukes does not mention in his memoirs the abuse he suffered at the hands of a paedophile school master: yet Mr Ferguson, for some reason - that does not add to this story in anyway - has decided to advertise this to all. Mr Ferguson says, "In order to avoid the attentions of this paedophile, Paul learned to lie, cheat and evade. He dreamed up dozens of different ways of making sure that their paths crossed as rarely as possible and that when they did he appeared too sick or otherwise occupied for the housemaster to dally with him." Mr Ferguson terms this as, 'The art of subterfuge'.
I've read Sir Paul Dukes account of events ('Red Dusk and the Morrow'), not one word of which I would suggest is anything but the gospel, so on balance I can only give Mr Ferguson's telling one-star: for me, in many places, this smacks of Mr Ferguson's 'idea' of what might have happened, what might have been thought and what might have been said.
Mr Ferguson takes aim at Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)* on more than one occasion, even calling Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)* a con-man: an offence not shown by Captain George Hill in his memoirs, 'Go Spy the Land' in which he declares, having worked alongside Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)* in Russia, a high-regard for Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)*.
I question this attack, as the telling of Operation Kronstadt does not in any way insist on Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly's (MC)* name being mentioned. Why then did Mr Ferguson feel it necessary to take pot-shots?
A con-man, I would venture, is a person deft in the art of subterfuge.
Subterfuge:
1. Deception used to achieve an end: tried to get her to sign the contract by subterfuge.
2. A deceptive stratagem or device:
A skill, I would venture, necessary when working as a field-officer for the intelligence community is subterfuge.
The section of the book that DOES tell of the Royal Navy's Operation Kronstadt and the attempts to rescue Paul Dukes from Russia, describes the incredible determination, courage and skill shown by a hand-picked team, all of whom were willing to risk their lives for another.
I'm disappointed with how Mr Ferguson has used his recounting, of what must still remain one of the most courageous naval exploits in British history, to do such unnecessary damage to those that have passed on: and are unable to defend against attack.
And, in closing, lest any of us might happen to forget:
* The Military Cross (MC) is granted in recognition of: "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land".
An even greater number of pages are devoted to the life and career of Paul Dukes: all of which, and far more, can be found when you read 'Red Dusk and the Morrow', written by Sir Paul Dukes.
Sir Paul Dukes does not mention in his memoirs the abuse he suffered at the hands of a paedophile school master: yet Mr Ferguson, for some reason - that does not add to this story in anyway - has decided to advertise this to all. Mr Ferguson says, "In order to avoid the attentions of this paedophile, Paul learned to lie, cheat and evade. He dreamed up dozens of different ways of making sure that their paths crossed as rarely as possible and that when they did he appeared too sick or otherwise occupied for the housemaster to dally with him." Mr Ferguson terms this as, 'The art of subterfuge'.
I've read Sir Paul Dukes account of events ('Red Dusk and the Morrow'), not one word of which I would suggest is anything but the gospel, so on balance I can only give Mr Ferguson's telling one-star: for me, in many places, this smacks of Mr Ferguson's 'idea' of what might have happened, what might have been thought and what might have been said.
Mr Ferguson takes aim at Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)* on more than one occasion, even calling Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)* a con-man: an offence not shown by Captain George Hill in his memoirs, 'Go Spy the Land' in which he declares, having worked alongside Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)* in Russia, a high-regard for Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly (MC)*.
I question this attack, as the telling of Operation Kronstadt does not in any way insist on Second-Lieutenant Sidney Reilly's (MC)* name being mentioned. Why then did Mr Ferguson feel it necessary to take pot-shots?
A con-man, I would venture, is a person deft in the art of subterfuge.
Subterfuge:
1. Deception used to achieve an end: tried to get her to sign the contract by subterfuge.
2. A deceptive stratagem or device:
A skill, I would venture, necessary when working as a field-officer for the intelligence community is subterfuge.
The section of the book that DOES tell of the Royal Navy's Operation Kronstadt and the attempts to rescue Paul Dukes from Russia, describes the incredible determination, courage and skill shown by a hand-picked team, all of whom were willing to risk their lives for another.
I'm disappointed with how Mr Ferguson has used his recounting, of what must still remain one of the most courageous naval exploits in British history, to do such unnecessary damage to those that have passed on: and are unable to defend against attack.
And, in closing, lest any of us might happen to forget:
* The Military Cross (MC) is granted in recognition of: "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land".
September 13, 2022
I knew nothing of this: no one I know, knows anything of it. I've asked. This is the most amazing story, I have ever read. It beggars belief that they even thought they might pull-it-off, let alone pull-it-off. How has this not been made into a film.
The audacity of British Intelligence to conceive and pull-off Operation Mincemeat (NOW A FILM) blew my socks off - now this.
Wow!
I am so glad I read this.
The audacity of British Intelligence to conceive and pull-off Operation Mincemeat (NOW A FILM) blew my socks off - now this.
Wow!
I am so glad I read this.
December 30, 2022
I'm with Mary on this: please see her review.
The sections of the book that tell of the daring exploits of Lieutenant Gus Agar and company are exhilarating to say the very least: and a privilege to read of.
The author with purposeful digression from this incredible story, pulls the reader toward the feats of Paul Dukes (the man of a hundred faces). The title of this book is misleading (the rescue of Britain's greatest spy, the man of a hundred faces). Paul Dukes rescued himself, Lieutenant Agar's heroic efforts failed to escape Paul Dukes.
If you wish to understand (fully understand) the trials and tribulations suffered by Paul Dukes, I would advise to read 'Red Dusk and the Morrow': this attempt to coax the reader into believing the author was doing justice to Paul Dukes, is simply not true.
I do hope I might get chance to read of Lieutenant Gus Agar and company within a more focused and accurate narrative. Red Dusk and the Morrow is a focused and accurate narrative: it is written by Sir Paul Dukes.
The sections of the book that tell of the daring exploits of Lieutenant Gus Agar and company are exhilarating to say the very least: and a privilege to read of.
The author with purposeful digression from this incredible story, pulls the reader toward the feats of Paul Dukes (the man of a hundred faces). The title of this book is misleading (the rescue of Britain's greatest spy, the man of a hundred faces). Paul Dukes rescued himself, Lieutenant Agar's heroic efforts failed to escape Paul Dukes.
If you wish to understand (fully understand) the trials and tribulations suffered by Paul Dukes, I would advise to read 'Red Dusk and the Morrow': this attempt to coax the reader into believing the author was doing justice to Paul Dukes, is simply not true.
I do hope I might get chance to read of Lieutenant Gus Agar and company within a more focused and accurate narrative. Red Dusk and the Morrow is a focused and accurate narrative: it is written by Sir Paul Dukes.
April 1, 2025
Britain's Greatest Spy, Sir Paul Henry Dukes, did actually rescue himself: did you expect any less? He was after all, as far as I am concerned, one of the greatest of men. Then along comes Augustus Agar. If, as Captain Mansfield Cumming was, you were the head of the foreign section of the British Secret Service Bureau (known today as MI6 or SIS) you'd ideally be a very good judge of character. It was Mansfield Cumming who asked Paul Dukes to go make investigations in Post-Revolutionary Russia and so, it was Mansfield Cumming who asked Gus Agar to go rescue his greatest spy.
Paul Dukes was indeed worth rescuing and Gus Agar was more than able to take on such a task. Gus Agar was one of thirteen children and orphaned by the time he was 12 years-old. Gus Agar was a man of fathomless courage and Paul Dukes was a man of boundless courage, wit, compassion and determination.
This is a story about real men and I am in awe.
Paul Dukes was indeed worth rescuing and Gus Agar was more than able to take on such a task. Gus Agar was one of thirteen children and orphaned by the time he was 12 years-old. Gus Agar was a man of fathomless courage and Paul Dukes was a man of boundless courage, wit, compassion and determination.
This is a story about real men and I am in awe.
January 6, 2024
An incredible read.
To think these people survived against all the odds. If I didn't know this to be true story, I would laugh at how preposterous the story line was.
Why is this not a major film. Netflix needs to get a grip of this.
To think these people survived against all the odds. If I didn't know this to be true story, I would laugh at how preposterous the story line was.
Why is this not a major film. Netflix needs to get a grip of this.
March 21, 2022
With the Bolshevik regime trying desperately to gain complete control of Russia and their reign of terror at full throttle, torturing and killing thousands, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI-6) was in its infancy, stumbling from one horlicks to another. It would seem that Mansfield Cumming's new outfit was destined to dismantled and filed under 'dead-duck'. Jealousy within the established services, The FCO, Naval intelligence, Army Intelligence, was having non-of-it.
What was to be done?
Send an untrained, untested, concert pianist into Russia as an undercover agent?
Send a small naval detachment into the jaws of the Gulf of Finland to support the pianist and rescue him if necessary from under the nose of one of the most heavily fortified inlets in Europe?
This is a ripping-yarn, filled with derring-do: enough to make your heart skip a beat.
And; it is all true.
I don't want to say another word. I knew nothing of this escapade until I read this, so I am not going to risk spoiling it for others.
It is an absolutely terrific read: the research behind this has to be applauded.
A story wrapped around some very brave men and women. I cannot imagine what it was like for any of them.
Without doubt, the most amazing adventure I have read.
Hats off.
What was to be done?
Send an untrained, untested, concert pianist into Russia as an undercover agent?
Send a small naval detachment into the jaws of the Gulf of Finland to support the pianist and rescue him if necessary from under the nose of one of the most heavily fortified inlets in Europe?
This is a ripping-yarn, filled with derring-do: enough to make your heart skip a beat.
And; it is all true.
I don't want to say another word. I knew nothing of this escapade until I read this, so I am not going to risk spoiling it for others.
It is an absolutely terrific read: the research behind this has to be applauded.
A story wrapped around some very brave men and women. I cannot imagine what it was like for any of them.
Without doubt, the most amazing adventure I have read.
Hats off.
August 9, 2011
The British got involved in a small way in the fight between the Whites and Reds at the end of WWII and this story tells of an operation to sink battleships using souped up speed boats called CMBs and Paul Duke who created spy
Operation Kronstadt is the little known story of the British attempts to setup spy networks in Bolshevik Russia. It details the efforts made by Paul Dukes to set up a spy network in Soviet Russia and Gus Agars efforts to extricate him using souped up speed boats called CMBS and also to use these boats to attack the Soviet navy in the Baltic Sea.
100 years ago MI6 was a small and pretty unsuccessful operation run by a chick hound named Cummings, code name-C (Henceforth all MI6 heads have been called C.) He was pretty much ignored by everyone, but got the job to try and infiltrate the USSR. No decent intel was coming out of the USSR. MI6 recruited Paul Dukes, a pianist who had been studying in Petrograd for about a decade and spoke Russian well and later Gus Agar to get him out.
Paul Dukes survived an intense man hunt by the Cheka (People who searched for counter-revolutionaries and whose contribution to Russia was to make everyone suspicious of each other for the next 70 years.) He was an extraordinarily brave and resourceful man and eventually made it out of the USSR through Lithuania. He must have froze to death 100 times, but kept up his network.
Agar was to try to get Dukes out of Russia using his speed boats and ultimately failed when his boats were torn to shreds from fire from the Kronstadt fortresses.
Before that, however, attached torpedoes to the bottoms of these speedboats and knocked out three battleships! Ultimately, the Whites lost of course, but knocking out Soviet naval power in the Baltic, bought life for the three Baltic Republics.
This was a fascinating and true spy story of a little-known piece of history. I read it in a matter of days and I hope Harry Ferguson gets a lot more readers to his story about these intrepid men.
Again, If you have actually made it through my review, congratulations-A crap writer and reviewer like myself has no real right to be read and I don't expect to be, but these writings are mostly for me to remember what I have read. I have read so much over the years but 90% has been long forgotten by someone with such a poor memory as mine.
Operation Kronstadt is the little known story of the British attempts to setup spy networks in Bolshevik Russia. It details the efforts made by Paul Dukes to set up a spy network in Soviet Russia and Gus Agars efforts to extricate him using souped up speed boats called CMBS and also to use these boats to attack the Soviet navy in the Baltic Sea.
100 years ago MI6 was a small and pretty unsuccessful operation run by a chick hound named Cummings, code name-C (Henceforth all MI6 heads have been called C.) He was pretty much ignored by everyone, but got the job to try and infiltrate the USSR. No decent intel was coming out of the USSR. MI6 recruited Paul Dukes, a pianist who had been studying in Petrograd for about a decade and spoke Russian well and later Gus Agar to get him out.
Paul Dukes survived an intense man hunt by the Cheka (People who searched for counter-revolutionaries and whose contribution to Russia was to make everyone suspicious of each other for the next 70 years.) He was an extraordinarily brave and resourceful man and eventually made it out of the USSR through Lithuania. He must have froze to death 100 times, but kept up his network.
Agar was to try to get Dukes out of Russia using his speed boats and ultimately failed when his boats were torn to shreds from fire from the Kronstadt fortresses.
Before that, however, attached torpedoes to the bottoms of these speedboats and knocked out three battleships! Ultimately, the Whites lost of course, but knocking out Soviet naval power in the Baltic, bought life for the three Baltic Republics.
This was a fascinating and true spy story of a little-known piece of history. I read it in a matter of days and I hope Harry Ferguson gets a lot more readers to his story about these intrepid men.
Again, If you have actually made it through my review, congratulations-A crap writer and reviewer like myself has no real right to be read and I don't expect to be, but these writings are mostly for me to remember what I have read. I have read so much over the years but 90% has been long forgotten by someone with such a poor memory as mine.
February 8, 2024
A tremendous read. The story of galant and determined men.
I do believe this is a largely untold story: a great shame.
I do believe this is a largely untold story: a great shame.
January 17, 2013
Operation Kronstadt by Harry Ferguson tells the world about the early MI6mission in Kronstadt. This mission was an amazing intelligence success and showed real heroism by the men who participated.
Operation Kronstadt was one of the first major attempts to get intelligence in the Soviet Union. The British would run CMB’s between Terrioki, Finland and Kronstadt which was one of the armed fortresses guarding Petrograd. This mission was dual prong in the end, to attack the fortresses and to help get Paul Dukes out of Soviet Russia.
Operation Kronstadt was an easy read and it seemed to really have a hold on the history. It realized that the mission was both really successful in areas and had a lot of problems. The problems included many of the classic intelligence problems over the years: trusting the wrong people, betraying your cover, lack of supervision, and etc. The mission successes were very important especially the intelligence that Paul Dukes was able to gather in Soviet Russia and sinking a couple Soviet ships. Plus it allowed the CMBs to really got a lot of work.
It’s not often that you get to see both the operational successes and problems. This book reminds me of Main Enemy by showing intelligence by the intelligence operations in a certain part of the globe and really placing it in time. It was one of the first books that I’ve seen that showed the immaturity of the MI6 program.
Operation Kronstadt was one of the first major attempts to get intelligence in the Soviet Union. The British would run CMB’s between Terrioki, Finland and Kronstadt which was one of the armed fortresses guarding Petrograd. This mission was dual prong in the end, to attack the fortresses and to help get Paul Dukes out of Soviet Russia.
Operation Kronstadt was an easy read and it seemed to really have a hold on the history. It realized that the mission was both really successful in areas and had a lot of problems. The problems included many of the classic intelligence problems over the years: trusting the wrong people, betraying your cover, lack of supervision, and etc. The mission successes were very important especially the intelligence that Paul Dukes was able to gather in Soviet Russia and sinking a couple Soviet ships. Plus it allowed the CMBs to really got a lot of work.
It’s not often that you get to see both the operational successes and problems. This book reminds me of Main Enemy by showing intelligence by the intelligence operations in a certain part of the globe and really placing it in time. It was one of the first books that I’ve seen that showed the immaturity of the MI6 program.
November 22, 2014
Brilliant, such a gripping book about the life of a secret agent. Just as the author mentions, the only reason this book has not been made into a Hollywood movie is cos there are no American heroes in this book.
August 22, 2024
This non-fiction book about historical events in 1919, during the Russian Civil War just after the end of WW I, reads like a good thriller or spy novel. The research is first rate and so is the writing. It also includes good, appropriate maps and photographs. This is no small achievement. I recently read another spy history where the research was also first rate, but the poor writing and storytelling greatly diminished the experience.
There is some real heroism here and it is well described, but it comes from outside MI6, notably by Captain Gus Agar of the British Navy and concert pianist Paul Dukes, “The Man with a Hundred Faces”. However, the leadership and management of MI6 is appallingly bad.
The author is a “former MI6 officer” and the introductory Author’s Note states:
That record describes Mansfield Cummings, the original “C” leading MI6, as a washed-up bumbler who got the job because nobody else wanted him, even (or especially) during WW I. The main case officer for the operation, Raleigh Le May, is even worse - petty, vindictive and dangerously counterproductive. He has to be openly defied for things to get done. Radios are never supplied to the spy network, forcing them to rely on couriers, who are often captured and tortured, allowing the Cheka to roll up their networks. Money is supplied in the form of laughably crude forgeries which cannot be used. When British sympathizers in Russia instead loan the network real money, MI6 later refuses to reimburse them until one of them threatens to publicly renounce his knighthood and tell the press.
The story relates, “This approach was typical of the early years of MI6: a rather dilettante group of officers sat in London enjoying life away from the front line, sending out personnel willy-nilly into the world with no proper training or briefing, interfering when they felt like it and generally cocking things up.” The Epilogue concludes, “The incompetence and double-dealing of Cumming’s organization had continued to the very end of the mission. . .The myth that he was an intelligence mastermind persists to this day.”
The book also serves as a reminder that the British government could have easily strangled the Bolshevik Communist menace in its cradle if it had wanted. But the Labour politicians in power at the time refused to do so because they were sympathetic or supportive fellow travelers. This led to millions dead, trillions wasted, and the threat of nuclear annihilation for four decades of Cold War. Without Labour’s complicity and/or connivence, the book says “there is a good chance that the Bolsheviks would have lost the Civil War and the Soviet Union might never have existed.”
This was very interesting and enjoyable reading and it left me wondering: do all security agencies become corrupt, self-promoting Praetorian Guards more interested in expanding their power than protecting their nations and citizens? Considering the aforementioned book, which documented the rotten behavior of the FBI, this one, which does the same for MI6, and numerous ones that describe the CIA’s abuses and incompetence, I have to say that the answer is absolutely, “Yes”.
There is some real heroism here and it is well described, but it comes from outside MI6, notably by Captain Gus Agar of the British Navy and concert pianist Paul Dukes, “The Man with a Hundred Faces”. However, the leadership and management of MI6 is appallingly bad.
The author is a “former MI6 officer” and the introductory Author’s Note states:
“Originally, I thought that this would be the perfect operation to celebrate the centenary of MI6. As you will see, our actions were so clumsy (and sometimes, reprehensible) that this has not turned out to be the case. And yet, given the Service’s poor performance in recent years, perhaps it is a good thing if some of the mystique which has prevented proper consideration of the Service’s numerous faults is brushed aside, even if only for a short while.
In fact I was concerned that this tale presents a rather too negative, if accurate, picture of MI6. . .They are content for the record to stand in its current form.”
That record describes Mansfield Cummings, the original “C” leading MI6, as a washed-up bumbler who got the job because nobody else wanted him, even (or especially) during WW I. The main case officer for the operation, Raleigh Le May, is even worse - petty, vindictive and dangerously counterproductive. He has to be openly defied for things to get done. Radios are never supplied to the spy network, forcing them to rely on couriers, who are often captured and tortured, allowing the Cheka to roll up their networks. Money is supplied in the form of laughably crude forgeries which cannot be used. When British sympathizers in Russia instead loan the network real money, MI6 later refuses to reimburse them until one of them threatens to publicly renounce his knighthood and tell the press.
The story relates, “This approach was typical of the early years of MI6: a rather dilettante group of officers sat in London enjoying life away from the front line, sending out personnel willy-nilly into the world with no proper training or briefing, interfering when they felt like it and generally cocking things up.” The Epilogue concludes, “The incompetence and double-dealing of Cumming’s organization had continued to the very end of the mission. . .The myth that he was an intelligence mastermind persists to this day.”
The book also serves as a reminder that the British government could have easily strangled the Bolshevik Communist menace in its cradle if it had wanted. But the Labour politicians in power at the time refused to do so because they were sympathetic or supportive fellow travelers. This led to millions dead, trillions wasted, and the threat of nuclear annihilation for four decades of Cold War. Without Labour’s complicity and/or connivence, the book says “there is a good chance that the Bolsheviks would have lost the Civil War and the Soviet Union might never have existed.”
This was very interesting and enjoyable reading and it left me wondering: do all security agencies become corrupt, self-promoting Praetorian Guards more interested in expanding their power than protecting their nations and citizens? Considering the aforementioned book, which documented the rotten behavior of the FBI, this one, which does the same for MI6, and numerous ones that describe the CIA’s abuses and incompetence, I have to say that the answer is absolutely, “Yes”.
November 3, 2022
This is an extraordinary tale of courage and determination against overwhelming odds on the part of two young men, naval officer Gus Agar, and SIS operative Paul Dukes. In 1919, the latter dodged teams of Soviet Chekists in starving Petrograd, living hand to mouth, frozen and hungry and never far from betrayal, torture and execution while building secret agent networks and funnelling vital intelligence back to London.
Commander Agar rightly won the VC and a DSO for his daring service (which included disobeying orders) in crippling Soviet warships in the Gulf of Finland in the most extraordinary way.
Dukes became the only SIS officer ever to be knighted for work in the field.
Both men had to contend with inefficient, obstructive and unpleasant SIS handlers. As the author, himself a former SIS officer, points out, the early years of the Secret Intelligence Service were marked by amateurish incompetence, poor security and failure. Churchill seriously considered abolishing the SIS in 1939. It was only its association with the Special Operations Executive (which SIS absorbed, amazingly, at the end of WW2) and the slight role it played in association with the Bletchley Park codebreakers that maintained the myth that British intelligence contributed in any meaningful way to the defeat of Germany and Japan.
Agar was the only link Dukes had with the outside world, and his only hope of being rescued as the Bolsheviks closed in on him.
It's an exciting tale thoroughly researched and well told, and it did have me on the edge of my chair. It would make a superb movie.
Commander Agar rightly won the VC and a DSO for his daring service (which included disobeying orders) in crippling Soviet warships in the Gulf of Finland in the most extraordinary way.
Dukes became the only SIS officer ever to be knighted for work in the field.
Both men had to contend with inefficient, obstructive and unpleasant SIS handlers. As the author, himself a former SIS officer, points out, the early years of the Secret Intelligence Service were marked by amateurish incompetence, poor security and failure. Churchill seriously considered abolishing the SIS in 1939. It was only its association with the Special Operations Executive (which SIS absorbed, amazingly, at the end of WW2) and the slight role it played in association with the Bletchley Park codebreakers that maintained the myth that British intelligence contributed in any meaningful way to the defeat of Germany and Japan.
Agar was the only link Dukes had with the outside world, and his only hope of being rescued as the Bolsheviks closed in on him.
It's an exciting tale thoroughly researched and well told, and it did have me on the edge of my chair. It would make a superb movie.
May 16, 2024
A rollercoaster of a read. The story of a few brave men. Again, I'd suggest, a little known part of history.
July 17, 2019
I thought this might be a fictional ripping yarn when I picked it up by was pleasantly surprised to find it a non-fiction account that added to my base of scant knowledge of the UK's 1919 campaign against the Bolsheviks in the Baltic. It's really two stories - that of an early SIS spy in Petrograd, 1918-9. The other, a narrative of the Royal Navy's war against their Kronstadt-based rivals in the same period. The RN were using very high speed Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) of which I had never heard before, and their success resulted in a VC. The author was an MI6 officer and the book benefits from his historical revisionism and assessments of spy tradecraft in use at the time. Overall Ferguson was not impressed with MI6 then, or now, and it shows!
January 27, 2018
A fascinating insight into naval operations in the Baltic after WW1. I had read Sir Paul Dukes' autobiography, but this account was better. Moreover, it included Augustus Agar's adventures in his coastal motor boat, too. The book is well written and reads with the pace and excitement of a novel. My only criticism is that, in my view, he unfairly knocks the efficiency of SIS's tradecraft, perhaps overlooking how much in its infancy the organisation then was. Notwithstanding, I thoroughly recommend this book.
August 14, 2012
A well researched history that takes you inside the new soviet Russia in 1919. Pretty depressing at times and what the British spies and Navy did to find out what was going on.
April 15, 2014
3 1/2 stars. Would be four, save that I found the first half of the book uneven... boring chapter, interesting chapter, etc.
January 1, 2023
complex operation, highly detailed account, many heroes, thrilling
December 21, 2022
Soviet Russia, 1919. Only one British agent remains within Communist territory, and until recently he has been very successful in supplying badly-needed intelligence to London...but for several weeks now, he has gone silent. What has happened to him?
To find out, the then small and little-known agency that would become MI6 plans a rescue mission that will involve a new type of vessel developed by the Royal Navy (RN) during the recently-ended Great War.
Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) are small torpedo boats that are very fast but also highly vulnerable thanks to their large fuel tanks and plywood construction.
But CMBs may be just the perfect craft to race hundreds of miles down-river from the Gulf Of Finland to Petrograd and rescue the agent - despite the string of Soviet defences and fortresses along the way, including the very formidable Kronstadt naval base.
A small force of CMBs under the command of young Great War RN veteran Augustus 'Gus' Agar is dispatched to Finland...
...but even by then, Operation Kronstadt has already become one of those WTF stories that could only happen in real life.
As Harry Ferguson recounts the astonishing story of what happens with Agar and his task force, at the same time he tells the even more astonishing story of what had previously happened and is still happening with Paul Dukes, Britain's incredible man in Petrograd. Yes, he's still alive - but with increasing pressure from Soviet terror, for how much longer? And will the CMBs get to him before it's too late?
Operation Kronstadt is engrossing and riveting page-turning history.
To find out, the then small and little-known agency that would become MI6 plans a rescue mission that will involve a new type of vessel developed by the Royal Navy (RN) during the recently-ended Great War.
Coastal Motor Boats (CMBs) are small torpedo boats that are very fast but also highly vulnerable thanks to their large fuel tanks and plywood construction.
But CMBs may be just the perfect craft to race hundreds of miles down-river from the Gulf Of Finland to Petrograd and rescue the agent - despite the string of Soviet defences and fortresses along the way, including the very formidable Kronstadt naval base.
A small force of CMBs under the command of young Great War RN veteran Augustus 'Gus' Agar is dispatched to Finland...
...but even by then, Operation Kronstadt has already become one of those WTF stories that could only happen in real life.
As Harry Ferguson recounts the astonishing story of what happens with Agar and his task force, at the same time he tells the even more astonishing story of what had previously happened and is still happening with Paul Dukes, Britain's incredible man in Petrograd. Yes, he's still alive - but with increasing pressure from Soviet terror, for how much longer? And will the CMBs get to him before it's too late?
Operation Kronstadt is engrossing and riveting page-turning history.
June 28, 2023
This is the best story I've ever hated actually reading.
This 2008 non-fiction pot-boiler tells the almost unbelievable history of an obscure but exciting chapter of the birth of the Soviet Union. Exhausted by World War I but nervous about the Bolsheviks, who are slowly winning their civil war against the Whites, the U.K. looked for spies to keep it informed while stationing a trip-wire Royal Navy force in Finland to keep the Red Fleet safely in its harbors.
This is the story of how the two efforts intersected, in the form of a motley collection of used motor torpedo boats and their crews. They were supposed to be used to discretely communicate with ace spy (“the man of 100 faces”) Paul Dukes, trapped in St. Petersburg. Through the magic of mission creep, these become the spearhead of an almost suicidal and spectacularly indiscrete maritime assault on the Reds’ navy. Inspired (often, rank) amateurism, insane levels of bravery, and poisonous organizational politics combine in this story which is often hard to believe is non-fiction.
The story is amazing, the book not so much. Ferguson's writing style is often painful, and distinctly uninspired writing style. The book also strains under the effort of trying to blend two very different plot lines which are tenuously connected by the boats and their crews. I also blame Ferguson for pointing out that Erskine Childers knew one of the key players in the boat effort, which led to me suffering through The Riddle of the Sands. But that’s a different review.
6.5/10 (3.25 stars)
This 2008 non-fiction pot-boiler tells the almost unbelievable history of an obscure but exciting chapter of the birth of the Soviet Union. Exhausted by World War I but nervous about the Bolsheviks, who are slowly winning their civil war against the Whites, the U.K. looked for spies to keep it informed while stationing a trip-wire Royal Navy force in Finland to keep the Red Fleet safely in its harbors.
This is the story of how the two efforts intersected, in the form of a motley collection of used motor torpedo boats and their crews. They were supposed to be used to discretely communicate with ace spy (“the man of 100 faces”) Paul Dukes, trapped in St. Petersburg. Through the magic of mission creep, these become the spearhead of an almost suicidal and spectacularly indiscrete maritime assault on the Reds’ navy. Inspired (often, rank) amateurism, insane levels of bravery, and poisonous organizational politics combine in this story which is often hard to believe is non-fiction.
The story is amazing, the book not so much. Ferguson's writing style is often painful, and distinctly uninspired writing style. The book also strains under the effort of trying to blend two very different plot lines which are tenuously connected by the boats and their crews. I also blame Ferguson for pointing out that Erskine Childers knew one of the key players in the boat effort, which led to me suffering through The Riddle of the Sands. But that’s a different review.
6.5/10 (3.25 stars)
March 5, 2023
A remarkable story of a British spy in Bolshevik Petrograd and a Royal Navy Lieutenant sent to rescue him.
The book starts slow, and then builds and builds up to a genuinely thrilling climax.
What success Agar and Dukes had was due to their own bravery and resourcefulness, because this book provides a harsh portrait of the British Secret Intelligence service, more concerned with appearances and future funding than operational support.
Like many secondary history books, the flow of events and information has been re-arranged to produce the desired narrative, a continual building of tension. The real value comes from the author being an intelligence agency insider who indicts his own profession.
Read more in depth on my blog: https://www.benespen.com/journal/2023...
The book starts slow, and then builds and builds up to a genuinely thrilling climax.
What success Agar and Dukes had was due to their own bravery and resourcefulness, because this book provides a harsh portrait of the British Secret Intelligence service, more concerned with appearances and future funding than operational support.
Like many secondary history books, the flow of events and information has been re-arranged to produce the desired narrative, a continual building of tension. The real value comes from the author being an intelligence agency insider who indicts his own profession.
Read more in depth on my blog: https://www.benespen.com/journal/2023...
September 9, 2023
This true story reads like a well written mystery and there were twists and turns throughout - I could hardly put it down. I won't talk about the content but I have to agree with a reviewer who said that it ought to be made into a film: it has drama, compassion and high speed action of a type that is completely different from what we have come to expect.
I wondered if this would be "more for the boys" but I loved it and I think that everybody will enjoy it - old and young, men and women. The story really captured my imagination and although I knew nothing about the period, it was also a gentle and very readable history lesson about the conflicts of interest in Europe at the end of WW1. This book is a brilliant combination of entertainment and fact.
In the news, September 2023:
A replica of CMB4 has been made and is on display at Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust.
I wondered if this would be "more for the boys" but I loved it and I think that everybody will enjoy it - old and young, men and women. The story really captured my imagination and although I knew nothing about the period, it was also a gentle and very readable history lesson about the conflicts of interest in Europe at the end of WW1. This book is a brilliant combination of entertainment and fact.
In the news, September 2023:
A replica of CMB4 has been made and is on display at Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust.
September 21, 2025
The exploits of Augustus Agar are beyond imagination and the man deserves far more than this book allows. To tie Agar's valiant contribution to the exploits of Paul Dukes in my mind is not how things should be and to then excuse advertising the personal details of Dukes childhood suffering with a weak justification (the trauma probably helped make him a better spy) is shameful.
Britain's Greatest Spy, The Man with a Hundred Faces was not rescued, he made it out of Russia under his own steam.
The title: 'Operation Kronstadt: The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the FAILED Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy, The Man with a Hundred Faces' is the truth of it and the author has no standing in my mind.
Britain's Greatest Spy, The Man with a Hundred Faces was not rescued, he made it out of Russia under his own steam.
The title: 'Operation Kronstadt: The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the FAILED Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy, The Man with a Hundred Faces' is the truth of it and the author has no standing in my mind.
June 4, 2023
Ferguson tells two intertwined and dramatic tales centered on the uncertain situation in the Baltic following the end of World War I and the Russian Revolution. Britain struggled to understand the new Bolshevik regime while fighting an undeclared naval war. Operation Kronstadt alternates between the story of Paul Dukes, the spymaster on the ground in Petrograd, and the MI6 efforts to contact and rescue him by sea. The research into British sources in thorough and Ferguson tells a rousing story.
September 11, 2023
The story of rescue, the planning, the exploits, the rescue by the naval crews is incredible; the courage and the determination to see the operation to its end. That is a must read.
I feel the author has dragged too much of Britain's Greatest Spy (Sir Paul Dukes) into the tale and too much of Sir Paul Dukes early life along with it.
Sir Paul Dukes has already told his story and the author would have been better placed to leave that be.
I feel the author has dragged too much of Britain's Greatest Spy (Sir Paul Dukes) into the tale and too much of Sir Paul Dukes early life along with it.
Sir Paul Dukes has already told his story and the author would have been better placed to leave that be.
September 5, 2025
The incredible story of the valour shown by Augustus Agar. The author, who should know better, tries to hang Agar's exploits off the heroic exploits of Paul Henry Dukes. He should not have done such! I know from talking with reading friends that Paul Dukes rescued himself, Agar tried valiantly but it never came off.
The event itself, how it was all planned and managed is an incredible story in itself and needs nothing to bolster its place in Secret Service history.
The event itself, how it was all planned and managed is an incredible story in itself and needs nothing to bolster its place in Secret Service history.
January 27, 2025
Quiet incredible.
First, to suggest that the operation was feasible.
Second, to find such a man, in Augustus Agar, willing and able to pull it off.
Although the rescue of Paul Dukes (The Man with a Hundred Faces) never actually succeeded (he rescued himself) the story is of courage, honour and duty.
First, to suggest that the operation was feasible.
Second, to find such a man, in Augustus Agar, willing and able to pull it off.
Although the rescue of Paul Dukes (The Man with a Hundred Faces) never actually succeeded (he rescued himself) the story is of courage, honour and duty.
April 4, 2025
I, like others, question the author's telling. Without the author digging up, completely unnecessarily, Paul Dukes' childhood experiences I would award 5 stars. The men portrayed in this account deserve far more.
These times were incredible and these men were not just up to the task, they were simply the very best of us.
These times were incredible and these men were not just up to the task, they were simply the very best of us.
December 24, 2019
This book had the makings of a great one: James Bond-like characters, a secretive location, and an intense mission. Sadly, it just did not come together in a way that made this book as engaging as it should've been.
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