The life of Britain's most highly decorated Cold War Spymaster, Sir Maurice Oldfield
Martin Pearce grew up in Derbyshire, receiving postcards from around the world from his mysterious uncle, Sir Maurice Oldfield, who turned out to be the real-life 'M'. Martin's first book, Spymaster, a biography of Sir Maurice, was published in 2016 to wide critical acclaim.
An exemplary biography... it is full of perceptive intimacies and
plenty of tradecraft, subterfuge, deception and revelation. I
cannot think of a better biography of a spy chief.
*The Spectator*
a frank and clear-eyed, if affectionate, biography of a great
public servant, cruelly traduced
*Spectator, Books of the Year 2016*
An intriguing portrait of a brilliant man
*Mail on Sunday*
Gripping and candid.
*The Times*
A welcome biography of a man able to combine warm family and
personal relationships with hard-headed intellectual analysis,
taking the cold decisions needed to succeed in the most
unaccountable and secret of government agencies.
*Guardian*
[Maurice Oldfield] was the first professional intelligence officer
to make it all the way to the top and become Chief of the Secret
Intelligence Service and he was a seminal figure in the creation of
the modern MI6. An invisible legend, but a legend nevertheless.
*Frederick Forsyth*
A lively, readable and delightful portrait of one of the most
charming men to emerge from the shadows.
*Sunday Telegraph*
This is the finest biography of a British Spymaster ever written.
From Oldfield’s Derbyshire roots to the peaks and valleys of his
MI6 career, the insights are revealing, the judgements are fair and
the well-wrought narrative makes a compelling read. This is a
marvellous addition to the historical literature of the secret
world.
*Jonathan Aitken*
Denied access to the official files but with the co-operation of
former intelligence officers, Oldfield's nephew has produced an
immensely enjoyable biography of the most important post-war spy
chief of Britain's still very, very secret Secret Intelligence
Service, revealing the previously unknown private person and the
man who kept the British government informed during the Cold
War.
*Stephen Dorril, author of MI6: Fifty Years of Special
Operations*
A revealing study of this most unlikely of spy chiefs, the clever
farmer’s son from Derbyshire who reached the top of the most
class-bound of professions. Pearce paints a rounded portrait of an
enigmatic personality, but one whose skilful reading of human
nature and empathy with colleagues made him a popular ‘Chief’ of
the Secret Intelligence Service in the dangerous days of the Cold
War.
*Roger Hermiston, author of The Greatest Traitor*
Fuller and more rounded than previous accounts... Pearce amplifies
and clarifies our image of a man who contributed significantly to
the national zeal and, arguably, world peace.
*Literary Review*
A fascinating insight into the complex world of a master spy.
*Charles Cumming, author of A Divided Spy*
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