Master of Spies (Classics of World War II the Secret War)

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Summary: Master of Spies is a Masterpiece
Review: Master of Spies is a World War II intelligence classic. Colonel Frantisek Moravec was the director of Czechoslovakia's military intelligence service prior to and during World War II. The book is not so much an autobiography as it is a detailed account of the critcal role human intelligence (HUMINT)played in shaping Allied military strategy during World War II in Europe.

Moravec accurately assessed Hitler's intentions to foment unrest in the Sudetenland and to ultimately dismember Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately the political leadership in Great Britain ignored Czech warnings about Germany, choosing appeasement, and acceded to the Munich Pact in September 1938. With the final dismemeberment of rump Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Moravec and his staff fled to Britain to continue resistance against Hitler from abroad. What is most remarkable is that he escaped with his European-wide agent network (and a generous portion of Czechoslovakia's monetary reserves) intact. This proved critical in helping Great Britain stay alive during the early years before the American entry into the war. Moravec's stunning intelligence successes included anticipating Hitler's invasions of Poland and the Soviet Union.

The account of his working relationship with his star agent, A-54, is fascinating and relevant to anyone interested in how intelligence tradecraft was performed. A-54 was arguably the best HUMINT source the Allies had during the war in divining Hitler's intentions. Moravec's one blemish was the mission to assassinate Rienhard Heydrich, the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, which resulted in the razing of Lidice, near Prague.

The book ends tragically with the Gestapo capturing A-54 and Moravec being betrayed by his own liberal democratic government-in-exile, eager to appease the Soviet Union. Moravec is a competant writer and easy to read. This book is an exciting page-turner for anyone interested in the Secret War within World War II.