Overview

Part biography, part forensic jigsaw puzzle, part cold-case detective investigation, The Eagle in the Mirror is the story of Charles Howard 'Dick' Ellis. The longest-serving spy for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Ellis helped set up the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), now known as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). In the 1940s he was considered one of the top three secret agents in MI6 and controlled its activities, as one journalist put it, 'for half the world'. But in the 1980s crusading espionage journalist Chapman Pincher (in the hugely successful books Their Trade is Treachery and Too Secret Too Long) and retired MI5 intelligence officer Peter Wright (in the worldwide bestseller Spycatcher) posthumously accused Ellis of having operated as a 'triple agent' for Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1965, while under interrogation in London, Ellis had allegedly made a confession that he had supplied information to the Nazis before World War II. However, Pincher's and Wright's accusations against Ellis have never been comprehensively proven. No confession has materialised. Was Ellis guilty or was an innocent man framed? By confessing did he take the fall for someone else? Or had the intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia been fatally compromised by a 'super mole'? Internationally bestselling author JESSE FINK (Pure Narco, Bon: The Last Highway, The Youngs) attempts to find out the truth once and for all. The Eagle in the Mirror is not just a long-overdue biography of the unheralded Dick Ellis; it's a gripping real-life international whodunit.

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9781785305108

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Reviews

"An important book on a figure who deserves proper historical attention. -- Giles Scott-Smith, dean, Leiden University College, The Hague This engrossing book makes a powerful case for Ellis to be seen as a hero. -- Simon Caterson, The Australian Forensic and engrossing. The point of Fink's work is to convincingly demolish various attacks on Ellis's reputation, especially the self-serving accusations of treacherous dealings, first with the Nazis and then the Soviet Union, made by a phalanx of bitter, or simply gullible, ""insiders""... it was all nonsense, if Fink is to be believed, and I think he can be... Ellis, who died in 1975, was interrogated in 1966. Nothing of any substance was found. But the mere fact that he'd been questioned spawned an orgy of bestselling ""exposes"", penned for profit by men who had never felt at home with truth or loyalty. Fink's comprehensive exoneration, while as complex as the subject demands, is written by a fellow who clearly values both. -- Pat Sheil, The Sydney Morning Herald Jesse Fink's passion to uncover the true story of Dick Ellis is an engaging journey through espionage in the post-World War I and World War II era. The highlight of the story for me was understanding just how much fear, deceit, and mystery were in the daily lives of British intelligence officers of the day. -- Ronald Drabkin, author of Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent Flying Ace Who Infiltrated Hollywood and Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor Dick Ellis's adventures not only rival those of James Bond; he was James Bond. -- Phillip Knightley, author of The Second Oldest Profession and Philby: KGB Masterspy Remarkable story... if this book tells us anything, it is the difficulty of knowing the truth of anything in the world of the security services. -- Michael Sexton, Australian Book Review Jesse Fink plays detective and uncovers the fascinating real story about Ellis. Highly readable. -- Jeff Popple, Canberra Daily Very interesting indeed... with some real digging for information, Fink does a very good job of showing the inadequacies of certain writers and that there is little or no real evidence that Ellis was an agent either for the Nazis or the Soviets. -- Stephen Dorril, author of MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations and MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service Great tale of espionage. The Eagle in the Mirror is a successful rehabilitation of a master spy... after a relentless investigation, Jesse Fink's book does justice to Ellis. -- TALINE TER MINASSIAN, author of Most Secret Agent of Empire: Reginald Teague-Jones, Master Spy of the Great Game"

Author Information

Jesse Fink was born in London in 1973. He is the author of six books including The Eagle in the Mirror, Pure Narco, Bon: The Last Highway and The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC. Visit his official website at jessefinkbooks.com

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