Prompt – ‘A book set in a country beginning with C’ (full disclosure, I kind of stretched the prompt here, as this book isn’t solely set in a country beginning with C, but does contain scenes in Cuba and China).
Medium – Book
About the book – this book is about Sir Maurice Oldfield, the most decorated spy ever and the head of MI6 during part of the Cold War. The book is written by his great-nephew, Martin Pearce, and describes Oldfield’s formative years, his experiences as an active agent in MI6, his later experiences as Chief of MI6 and then finally his death and the way he has been remembered since.
My rating – I would give this book 8.5/10. I really enjoyed learning about Maurice Oldfield, who is popularly meant to be the template for ‘M’ in James Bond and Smiley in the John Le Carre novels. He was a very likeable character, with a background completely at odds with other MI6 staff at the time (born to a poor farming family, went to a grammar school and then Manchester University) and a disarming charm which did more to help his work than any amount of torture and ‘Bond-esque’ escapades. He was a kind, bluff, good-humoured man, with a core of intelligence which meant that many underestimated him.
I loved the way that Martin Pearce wrote about Oldfield, not skimming over the mistakes he made, but instead being candid and honest about them. Oldfield was a Christian and a homosexual, and this was used against him later in his career, despite the amazing work he did and the things he put in place leading to the end of the Cold War and the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I finished the book wishing I had met Oldfield, but also with a sense of sadness that he was so badly treated before and after his death. I appreciate Martin Pearce’s work towards clearing his name, as Oldfield was clearly a remarkable character.
Would I read it again? Probably not – not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but because there are other biographies of other spies during the twentieth century which I would also like to read!
Jen's Book Blog 