Agent Jack : the true story of MI5's secret Nazi hunter

'highly Readable' Ben Macintyre 'pacy, Original And Frequently Chilling' Henry Hemming June 1940. Britain Is Europe's Final Bastion Of Freedom - And Hitler's Next Target. But Not Everyone Fears A Nazi Invasion. In Factories, Offices And Suburban Homes Are Men And Women Determined To Do All They Can To Hasten It. Throughout The Second World War, Britain's Defence Against The Enemy Within Was Eric Roberts, A Former Bank Clerk From Epsom. Equipped With An Extraordinary Ability To Make People Trust Him, He Was Recruited Into The Shadowy World Of Espionage By The Great Spymaster Maxwell Knight. Roberts Penetrated First The Communist Party And Then The British Union Of Fascists, Before Playing His Greatest Role For Mi5 - As Hitler's Man In London. Codenamed Jack King, He Single-handedly Built A Network Of Hundreds Of British Nazi Sympathisers, With Many Passing Secrets To Him In The Mistaken Belief That He Was A Gestapo Officer. Operation Fifth Column, Run By A Brilliant Woman Scientist And A Jewish Aristocrat With A Sideline In Bomb Disposal, Was Kept So Secret It Was Omitted From The Reports Mi5 Sent To Winston Churchill. In A Narrative That Grips Like A Thriller, Robert Hutton Tells The Fascinating Story Of An Operation Whose Existence Has Only Recently Come To Light. Drawing On Newly Declassified Documents And Private Family Archives, Agent Jack Shatters The Comfortable Notion That Britain Could Never Have Succumbed To Fascism, And Celebrates - At Last - The Courage Of Individuals Who Protected The Country They Loved At Great Personal Risk. This Is The Incredible Tale Of Operation Fifth Column, A Second World War Mi5 Operation So Secret That Its Existence Was Only Revealed By The National Archives For The First Time In 2014. Throughout The War And Even For A Couple Of Years Afterwards, 'agent Jack' - In Reality, A Bank Clerk Named Eric Roberts - Acted As A Gestapo Agent To Whom Hundreds Of British-based Nazi Sympathisers And Informers Passed Their Secrets, Thinking That He Was Sending Them Back To Germany. Many Were Put On A Salary By What They Thought Was The Third Reich And Some Were Even 'awarded' Iron Crosses For Their Services To The Fatherland; They Never Found Out The Truth. Among The Secrets They Tried To Pass Were: A Tip-off About Bletchley Park; Details Of The Deadly Mosquito Bomber; Complete Plans Of A Highly Effective Anti-radar Technology Codenamed Window. The Larger-than-life Characters Who Populate The Book Include Roberts Himself, The Deceptively Ordinary-seeming Bank Clerk; Maxwell Knight, Who Recruited Roberts; Victor Third Baron Rothschild, Roberts' Spymaster, Who Did A Sideline In Bomb Disposal Using His Cartier Screwdrivers; Theresa Clay, The Distinguished Biologist Who Co-ran The Operation With Rothschild, But Because She Was A Woman Was Only Ever Classified As An 'assistant'; Marita Perigoe, Possibly The Most Dangerous Of The Fascists, Who Despite Having Her Suspicions About Roberts, Continued To Recruit Spies For Him And Pass Him Secrets To The End Of The War. Robert Hutton. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 289-291) And Index. This is the incredible tale of Operation Fifth Column, a Second World War MI5 operation so secret that its existence was only revealed by the National Archives for the first time in 2014. It's the true story behind Kate Atkinson's Transcription and Anthony Quinn's Our Friends In Berlin . Throughout the war, "Jack King" - in reality, a bank clerk named Eric Roberts - pretended to be a Gestapo agent to whom hundreds of British-based Nazi sympathisers and informers passed their secrets, thinking that he was sending them back to Germany. Many were put on a salary by what they thought was the Third Reich and some were even 'awarded' Iron Crosses for their services to the Fatherland; they never found out the truth. Among the secrets they tried to pass were: a tip-off about Bletchley Park; details of the deadly Mosquito bomber; complete plans of a highly effective anti-radar technology codenamed WINDOW. The larger-than-life characters who populate the book include Roberts himself, the deceptively ordinary-seeming bank clerk; Maxwell Knight, who recruited Roberts; Victor Third Baron Rothschild, Roberts' spymaster, who did a sideline in bomb disposal using his Cartier screwdrivers; Theresa Clay, the distinguished biologist who co-ran the operation with Rothschild, but because she was a woman was only ever classified as an 'assistant'; Marita Perigoe, possibly the most dangerous of the fascists, who despite having her suspicions about Roberts, continued to recruit spies for him and pass him secrets to the end of the war. For fans of Transcription by Kate Atkinson and books by Ben Macintyre, this is the astonishing full story of the MI5 agent at the heart of Operation Fifth Column, the covert wartime operation to flush out Nazi sympathisers on British soil.