It’s a period of political and social strife for the United Kingdom. After World War 1 and in the years leading to the outbreak of World War 2 a quiet, peculiar character is tasked with rooting out enemy spies in England. In Henry Hemming’s book  Agent M we are introduced to Maxwell Knight, arguably England’s greatest spymaster!

Henry Hemming’s book reads as if it were taken right out of an Ian Fleming novel. Only it’s not! This book delves into the life of Maxwell Knight. An Englishman that no one would have predicted would become a spymasters of MI5. The book, as the author points out, was only possible through the recent declassification of certain MI5 records. That along with painstaking research revealed the most peculiar story of espionage in the 20th century.

The man who would go on to be known by many aliases such as “M” and “Captain King” started out as the rebellious son of a moderately wealthy family in England. We are introduced to Maxwell Knight as he pursues his great passion for animals. Maxwell felt most at home out exploring his family’s estate and observing all manner of animal and insect. He began to take in injured and abandoned animals, nursing them back to health.

Life was good for the young man but unfortunately this was not to remain true. Maxwell’s father passed away when he was young and his uncle became the new paternal head of the family. His uncle did not tolerate the wild collection of animals and Maxwell’s eccentric lifestyle. While it seemed Maxwell was more likely to become a zookeeper or naturalist his uncle had him enlisted in a military school.

With the outbreak of World War 1 he would be stationed on a training vessel while his brother went to fight in Europe. Again tragedy struck with Maxwell’s brother being killed in combat. When the war ended with Maxwell leaving the navy and returning to his roots rebuilding his collection of animals. In yet another twist he took jazz lessons from Sidney Beecher and began performing.

His Uncle was not amused by this choice of lifestyle and cut Maxwell off from the family. He wasn’t permitted at any family events or given any allowance. While it no doubt pained Maxwell he didn’t allow this to stop him.

This odd sequence of events would appear to be anything but the early years of the man who would become England’s most successful spy master. Yet, it was during this point in his life that Maxwell Knight was introduced to the most unlikely of professions: Spy.

In the 1930’s Communism was the great threat to England. Sir George Makgill, running a private espionage group in England, recruited Maxwell to infiltrate Communist groups and report back on their activities. This led to Maxwell joining Facist groups to direct actions against Communists in England. The evils of Facism hadn’t manifested itself and would eventually take on a very personal front for Maxwell.

This experience as a field agent of the “Makgill Group” led to Maxwell being offered a position with MI5, England’s domestic counterespionage group. Now he was the spymaster, managing a group of agents in the field.

In order to get reliable intelligence on Communist activities Maxwell needed reliable agents. In an unorthodox move he recruited female agents. In the 1930’s women weren’t considered to have the emotional endurance for field operations. Maxwell disagreed with this and took a chance recruiting several women. One in particular, Olga Gray, was instrumental in bringing down a Communist spy ring.

As World War 2 approached the focus of MI5, including Maxwell’s “M Section” as it came to be called, became gathering information and countering the activities of domestic Fascist organizations. Early on Nazi Germany actually had support in surprising numbers inside England. This included a former friend from Maxwell’s past that would come back to haunt him.

William Joyce had befriended Maxwell Knight after Maxwell had infiltrated a fascist group that William was a member of. William didn’t know who Maxwell really was and the two men would eventually take different paths in life. One would become an English spymaster while the other would spend World War 2 broadcasting Nazi propaganda into England. “Lord Haw Haw” as William was known embodied betrayal to the fullest extent for Maxwell. It was a difficult thing to deal with but he had a duty to England.

Again, a female agent became a key player in bringing down a spy ring. In this case it was M Section’s agent Marjorie Mackie. She managed to infiltrate the Right Club, an anti-semantic group that actively sought to undermine the war effort and aid Nazi Germany. Marjorie was able to gather valuable intelligence from within the organization and help build a case to have the leaders of the group arrested and imprisoned.

Maxwell would go on to be England’s greatest spymaster. At the end of his career though few people knew who he was or how influenctial he had been in defending England from outside threats.

While it reads like a great fictional spy novel these were real events with real people. Agents had to gather information that could be used in court and once an agent testified in open court their careers were over. The undercover work they did came with great risk. Olga Gray married and moved to Canada to leave her past behind. Regardless, she would always be concerned that former enemies might surface to exact revenge on her or her family.

Agent M: The Lives and Spies of MI5’s Maxwell Knight is filled with intriguing details of the England before, during, and after World War 2. If you enjoy espionage stories or are a history buff then I think this book is something you will enjoy.

I was captivated by a portrait picture of Maxwell Knight (there are several pictures of key people in the center of the book). He reminded me of my grandfather not a spymaster. But then, that may have been part of his success. The real world of espionage agents wasn’t one of fierce fights or seductions but a game of patient observation.

I learned a lot I didn’t know about England, and the world in general, leading up to World War 2. For example we learn the story of how one of Maxwell’s agents, on assignment in Germany, actually ended up sitting across a table from Hitler. I also learned that James Bond was a real person. Ian Fleming based his novel’s leading man after someone with a surprising occupation. It’s history and trivia like this that made the book hard to put down.

Agent M tells the tale of a seemingly unremarkable man who did extraordinarily heroic things. It turns out that the truth was more exciting than any work of fiction in print or on film.

I look forward to your comments and opinions of the book!