The full story of the most important spy of the twentieth century.
Perfect for fans of Ben Macintyre, Judith Pearson and Larry Loftis.During World War Two, Reinhard Gehlen had been Hitler’s top intelligence officer on the Eastern Front. However, while many of high-ranking fellow Nazis were tried, convicted, and incarcerated for their actions, Gehlen instead found work with the Americans, at the CIA. What work had Gehlen done during the Second World War that made him so valuable to the United States of America? And how was this leading German spy able to change his allegiance to Allies so swiftly to become an integral spy master of the emerging Cold War? The lives of spies are notoriously shrouded in secrecy, however, by utilizing Gehlen’s own memoirs as well as numerous other sources from his years during World War Two and the Cold War, Charles Whiting is able to piece together the story of this mysterious man. Gehlen: Germany’s Master Spy traces his early days as Heinz Guderian’s chief of Intelligence on the Eastern Front through his successful organization of a military spy system in the Soviet Union, to his post-war years with the CIA and the founding of West Germany’s own intelligence system. This book is essential reading for all interested in the shadowy world of espionage, revealing the story of how one Second World War spy came to shape the power dynamics of the Cold War.