{"product_id":"on-his-majestys-secret-service-sydney-reilly-codename-st1-9780752425559","title":"On His Majesty's Secret Service  Sydney Reilly Codename St1","description":"\u003cp\u003eSidney Reilly was probably the greatest spy the world has ever known. He lived on his wits and thrived on danger  using women ruthlessly and killing where necessary--and unnecessary. A womaniser  he had four wives-- three marriages of which were bigamous-- and numerous mistresses from New York to the Ukraine. From the gentlemens clubs of Edwardian England to the forbidding gates of the Kremlin itself  he influenced world history with coups of extraordinary magnitude that required skill- and audacity- rarely seen since. Like the fictional Bond he would later inspire  he would make navigating Soviet Russia as a British agent seem like a walk in the park. After four years working for MI6 and being exposed by the Soviets for his role in the plot to overthrow Lenin  he mysteriously disappeared in Russia in 1925. By the 1930s the press had turned Reilly into a household name  dubbing him Master Spy- the myth was cast. It was upon this myth and the first hand access to British intelligence records on Reilly that Ian Fleming (himself a secret service desk officer during the Second World War) was inspired to create James Bond. Until now major questions have remained unanswered about Reilly. During his life Reilly laid an almost impenetrable fog of mystery and deception around his origins as he adopted and shed one identity after another. Those who entered this ruthlessly compartmentalised life knew only what Reilly himself had told them. Andrew Cooks startling biography- itself a detective story of epic proportions- cuts through the myths revealing for the first time Reillys true identity  his precarious disappearance in 1925  using new  independent and expert photographic analysis of the photographs of Reillys corpse to ascertain their authenticity  and finally providing concrete proof that he was executed by the Russians in 1925. His most sensational discovery of all  however  is the identity of a close former colleague in MI6 circles whose collaboration with the Russians aided his entrapment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45655592632373,"sku":"ByrdShop_0752425552","price":100.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780752425559.jpg?v=1781936153","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/on-his-majestys-secret-service-sydney-reilly-codename-st1-9780752425559","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}