Master of Spies

by František Moravec

The author describes his life from his early soldiering in World War I through his years as head of Czech Intelligence to his escape from Czechoslovakia after the Communists took over in 1948. Astonishing long out of print memoir from a man whose life the whole word should remember. General Moravec had the rare distinction of fighting and risking his life to free his country from not one but three empires (Austro-Hungary, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia). His tales of starting the Czech intelligence service from scratch and eventually leading it into exile are hair raising real life thriller stuff. If I could assign students one book to tell the story of Europe in the 20th century it would be this one. Get your hands on a copy

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Memoir, Biography, Espionage

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 1975

Reviews

[Ilya · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life.

I came to this memoir from the also-excellent "The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich," (by Callum MacDonald) in which Moravec is the the third hero (alongside the actual assassins Kubiš and Gabčík): a far-sighted, clear-headed intel chief who runs some of the most significant ops of World War Two. In this book, it is Moravec telling the story: how he cultivated A-54, a top asset in German military intelligence, and how he planned the killing of the top Nazi official in Prague, Heydrich, from London.

Those are the deeds for which history knows him. Moravec also served in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War One, and deserted to the other side, joining the nascent Czechoslovak legion in Russia. In the first republic, Moravec advanced in the regular army leadership before being selected for intelligence. This was generally considered a low-prestige, less-desirable assignment, and Moravec took it grudgingly. In the 1930's, Czechoslovak military intel was a shambles, and Moravec quickly comes to see what it could be, and must be, to counter the growing threat from neighboring Germany.

As a narrator, Moravec is a military man in full: crisp, efficient, occasionally ironical, freely shows feeling but rarely displays emotion. While maintaining his loyalty, Moravec makes his his growing disappointment with Benes clear, as Benes proves incapable of seeing and attacking the communist problem head-on.

I had the feeling that Moravec might have much more to tell us about A-54, and it is too bad he doesn't go further here. It is too bad, period, that he died at 71, he could have written a longer book, or more books.

My edition (not available on goodreads, but with a better cover than any I could find here) has a wonderful image of Moravec, looking somewhat skeptically at the camera, and with a blurb from Graham Greene: "This is a unique account of espionage."

[Vojtěch E. Kilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Velmi poctivé vzpomínky vedoucího vojenské československé zpravodajské služby ve 30. letech a následně velmi významnou postavou londýnského exilu. Kromě zajímavých informací o budování zpravodajské služby a některých jejích významných operacích se Moravec významně věnuje jednotlivým postavám, s nimiž se během své kariéry setkal a spolupracoval, obzvláště zajímavý a přínosný je pak jeho pohled na Edvarda Beneše, s nímž Moravec během války velice úzce spolupracoval.

[Solomon Bloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Fantastic. Novel level stories, but real. The heroism shown by so many characters in the book, chief among which is A-54, the famous Nazi who provided intelligence for the Czechoslovak intelligence service (under Moravec). Paul Thümmel, a hero. We forgot what life was like for Moravec's generation -- fighting in WWI, in the trenches 75% of the war (his description), a brief respite in Democratic interwar Czechoslovakia, then promotion into intelligence to confront the Nazi threat. The continuation of intelligence operations after fleeing to London, where he lived and worked through the war. The return to Czechia, the takeover. Heart rending -- phenomenal book.

[Ron Lamberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating read! I chose this for some research I was doing for one of my own books, and was mesmerized. My history knowledge is sketchy at best. I had no idea how WWII impacted Czechoslovakia at the time. Moravec built the country's intelligence operation from scratch, ultimately moving to the US and contributing to the FBI.
The parallels between what Nazi Germany was doing, both leading up to and during the war, are outright frightening when you look at what's happening in the US today.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moravec had a unique perspective on one of the more sadly glossed over stories of WW2, the death and destruction of Czechoslovakia. As head of Czech intelligence from 1928 until he was ousted by the Communists in 1945. He built up Czech military intelligence and played a major role in some of the major intelligence efforts of the war, including the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich and A54, Paul Thulmann, an Abwehr double agent who provided intelligence to Czechoslovakia about a number of Nazi war plans, including the German plan to invade France through the Argonne and Operation Barbarossa. Strangely enough, most of the book is finished before the war had even broken out. Once Czechoslovakia had been abandoned by the Allies and chopped up by the Nazis, Moravec's narrative comes to it's final act. It is a fascinating perspective, even if there were still questions I had by the close.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing long out of print memoir from a man whose life the whole word should remember. General Moravec had the rare distinction of fighting and risking his life to free his country from not one but three empires (Austro-Hungary, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia). His tales of starting the Czech intelligence service from scratch and eventually leading it into exile are hair raising real life thriller stuff. If I could assign students one book to tell the story of Europe in the 20th century it would be this one. Get your hands on a copy

[Denisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skvělá kniha. Nečekala jsem, že mě tak zaujme, ale tenhle konkrétní osobní vhled do fungování zpravodajské sítě a do událostí naší historie byl naprosto fascinující. Wau.

[Almad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Čtivá reportáž z Československa mezi válkami a jeho následujících dvou krizích očima šéfa českých tajných služeb. Největší přínos pro mě mají krátké odstavcovité vsutvky v textu, které toho hodně říkají o době, ve které Moravec žil.

Kniha je taky vlastně zápisníkem zkušeného manažera. To je i její největší nevýhoda: nemálo místa zabírají Moravcovy jedno-až-dvouodstavcová hodnocení jeho nadřízených, podřízených, nástupců i spolupracovníků. Nemá problém i se silnými hodnoceními, byť někdy není zřejmé, zda nejde o vyřizování starých účtů či nakolik hraje roli generálova zahořklost.

Zážitky jsou to ale silné a místy až neuvěřitelné (celý příběh s agentem A-54). A z analytického popisu střetu totalit s demokraciemi mrazí vždycky...

[CASPER HILEMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

General Frantisek Moravec the Czech Head of Intelligence before and during the beginning of the Second World War. Moravec tells the tragic tale of appeasement, and the dismantling of the Czech state during the Third Reich as well as after the Second World War during the decades-long occupation of the Soviet Union.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holds some of the missing pieces of pre-WWII jigsaw - compulsive & illuminating!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a read. The head of inteligence before and during WWII tells all

[Translator Monkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best of its genre that I've ever read. An absolute treasure.

[Tomáš · Rating 5 out of 5]

Přímočaré, čtivé!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book if you want to learn about Czechoslovakian spying in World War II, but not a good rear if you are looking for something humerous.

[Kiragu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an informative read! It was a pleasure to learn about the invaluable and courageous role of the Czechoslovakia Intelligence Service in fighting the Nazis, including the assassination of Reihard Heydrich aka the butcher of Prague, who Hitler was never able to replace.

[Michal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book with one significant flaw. Moravec's description of assassination of Heydrich is demonstrably wrong. It is not really clear why he lied, though. Apart from this, the memoir is considered rather accurate. It was quite a page turner for me, highly recommend.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

[Mateu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressing memoirs from first hand actor in WWII. Bought in second hand market because no new prints at hand and do not regret it at all.