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Britų šnipas Hitlerio guolyje
Pagrindinis šios knygos herojus Billas de Roppas gali būti pelnytai vadinamas ir žmogumi legenda, ir žmogumi paslaptimi. Iš Šiaurės Lietuvos Biržų atšakos baronų von der Roppų giminės kilusiam Britanijos žvalgybos agentui pavyko prasiskverbti į Adolfui Hitleriui artimų žmonių ratą.
XX a. 4-ajame dešimtmetyje de Roppo žvalgybinė informacija sudarė daugiau nei 70 procentų MI6 pranešimų apie nacistinę Vokietiją. Jis buvo žmogus, siekęs užkirsti kelią artėjančiam karui ir daugybę metų veikęs pilkojoje zonoje. Ten, kur menkiausia klaida galėjo reikšti įkalinimą ar net mirtį.
XX a. 4-ajame dešimtmetyje de Roppo žvalgybinė informacija sudarė daugiau nei 70 procentų MI6 pranešimų apie nacistinę Vokietiją. Jis buvo žmogus, siekęs užkirsti kelią artėjančiam karui ir daugybę metų veikęs pilkojoje zonoje. Ten, kur menkiausia klaida galėjo reikšti įkalinimą ar net mirtį.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published May 8, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 4, 2025
Blimey, that was a dry read.
It’s incredibly well researched, of that there is no doubt, although I found the author too keen to remind the reader of his thoroughness by seemingly mentioning the name of every single individual who had ever been within a 15 yard radius of de Ropp. You would routinely find yourself going down a rabbit hole along the lines of… “X would later go on to form the Y club, which would employ the services of Z, who would of course go on to marry A, whose uncle was head of B”.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced account of espionage and intrigue, then skip this one.
It’s incredibly well researched, of that there is no doubt, although I found the author too keen to remind the reader of his thoroughness by seemingly mentioning the name of every single individual who had ever been within a 15 yard radius of de Ropp. You would routinely find yourself going down a rabbit hole along the lines of… “X would later go on to form the Y club, which would employ the services of Z, who would of course go on to marry A, whose uncle was head of B”.
If you’re looking for a fast-paced account of espionage and intrigue, then skip this one.
June 19, 2025
In his book The Spy and the Devil Tim Willasey-Wilsey sheds light not only on a previously little-known British agent with access to the highest levels in pre-war Germany but on a fascinating period of history, which witnessed the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party and the politics and events leading up to war. The book is meticulously researched.
The central figure is Baron Wilhelm Sylvester von der Ropp, a Baltic German who became a British subject and as Bill de Ropp fought bravely for the British on the Western Front. He subsequently moved to Germany in 1926 and thereafter struck up a friendship with Alfred Rosenberg, a fellow Baltic German and the Nazi’s chief theorist. Although in the power struggles of the Nazi elite Rosenberg would eventually lose out and was marginalised, during the 1930s he provided de Ropp with access to Hitler and high-level policy thinking. While that was a singular achievement, due to the immaturity of the Special Intelligence Service de Ropp received little or no strategic direction for furthering his penetration of the Nazi hierarchy and he operated in something of a vacuum, with the result that his full potential was never realised.
In following de Ropp’s career the book provides new thinking on an array of topics in which he was directly or indirectly involved including the Zinoviev Letter, the development of MI6 as a strategic rather than tactical level national asset, the dilemma in the 1930s as to whether the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany was Britain’s principal threat, the development of Blitzkrieg doctrine and German aircraft production. I was particularly intrigued by two aspects. First the British Air Ministry’s tendency to be an appeasing organisation, and the Germans use of it as a conduit to influence British politics, and secondly, de Ropp’s wife ‘Jimmy’, who was not only an adept agent in her own right but also had the reputation of being ‘good between the sheets’ and as a result able to extract information from foreign diplomats. In later life she would announce that she had slept with Goebbels and Göring, presumably on separate occasions. She was a great support to Bill and had she written about her life I suspect it would have been quite a read.
Despite the paucity of his intelligence reports due to over-enthusiastic weeding of the MI6 archive in the 1960s the author makes a cogent case for de Ropp’s role as a high-level spy. The quality of his reports were highly regarded within Whitehall and undoubtedly contributed to Chamberlain’s government approach to appeasement and its limits and Britain’s rearmament. However, that notwithstanding, the shortage of available documentary evidence results in de Ropp appearing as an enigmatic figure who comes in and out of focus as the story unfolds and I did wonder whether he was a double agent, particularly as he gave little or no warning of such significant events as the occupation of the Rhineland, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Set against those potentially suspect intelligence shortfalls he was accurate in his warning about the scope and horror of Nazi aims in the East and in his final chapter the author comprehensively and convincingly dismantles the case for de Ropp being a double agent.
This is not a light read, particularly in its earlier chapters, but the author is commended for his clear style and excellent insights into the era of appeasement. I unreservedly recommend the book to anyone interested in the early development of MI6, the machinations of personalities – friends and foes alike, and the tightrope that has to be walked by agents.
The central figure is Baron Wilhelm Sylvester von der Ropp, a Baltic German who became a British subject and as Bill de Ropp fought bravely for the British on the Western Front. He subsequently moved to Germany in 1926 and thereafter struck up a friendship with Alfred Rosenberg, a fellow Baltic German and the Nazi’s chief theorist. Although in the power struggles of the Nazi elite Rosenberg would eventually lose out and was marginalised, during the 1930s he provided de Ropp with access to Hitler and high-level policy thinking. While that was a singular achievement, due to the immaturity of the Special Intelligence Service de Ropp received little or no strategic direction for furthering his penetration of the Nazi hierarchy and he operated in something of a vacuum, with the result that his full potential was never realised.
In following de Ropp’s career the book provides new thinking on an array of topics in which he was directly or indirectly involved including the Zinoviev Letter, the development of MI6 as a strategic rather than tactical level national asset, the dilemma in the 1930s as to whether the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany was Britain’s principal threat, the development of Blitzkrieg doctrine and German aircraft production. I was particularly intrigued by two aspects. First the British Air Ministry’s tendency to be an appeasing organisation, and the Germans use of it as a conduit to influence British politics, and secondly, de Ropp’s wife ‘Jimmy’, who was not only an adept agent in her own right but also had the reputation of being ‘good between the sheets’ and as a result able to extract information from foreign diplomats. In later life she would announce that she had slept with Goebbels and Göring, presumably on separate occasions. She was a great support to Bill and had she written about her life I suspect it would have been quite a read.
Despite the paucity of his intelligence reports due to over-enthusiastic weeding of the MI6 archive in the 1960s the author makes a cogent case for de Ropp’s role as a high-level spy. The quality of his reports were highly regarded within Whitehall and undoubtedly contributed to Chamberlain’s government approach to appeasement and its limits and Britain’s rearmament. However, that notwithstanding, the shortage of available documentary evidence results in de Ropp appearing as an enigmatic figure who comes in and out of focus as the story unfolds and I did wonder whether he was a double agent, particularly as he gave little or no warning of such significant events as the occupation of the Rhineland, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Set against those potentially suspect intelligence shortfalls he was accurate in his warning about the scope and horror of Nazi aims in the East and in his final chapter the author comprehensively and convincingly dismantles the case for de Ropp being a double agent.
This is not a light read, particularly in its earlier chapters, but the author is commended for his clear style and excellent insights into the era of appeasement. I unreservedly recommend the book to anyone interested in the early development of MI6, the machinations of personalities – friends and foes alike, and the tightrope that has to be walked by agents.
January 23, 2026
Brilliantly researched book by an expert
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews