The Double-Cross System

There is no better book than The Double-Cross System on wartime intelligence * Times Literary Supplement *
Far and away the most valuable document of its kind…lucid cogent and authentic * Sunday Times *
Sensationalists are fond of trumpeting every slightest secret revealed as a world-shaking story; this one really was – M.R.D. Foot
A game played with dynamite in which those who couldn’t play were executed…Should on no account be missed by anyone who enjoys a good thriller * Oxford Mail *
A fascinating insight into the dangerous underworld of espionage and intelligence gathering during World War Two – L Waller * The History Blog *

John Masterman

John Masterman was interned in Berlin during the Great War, despite an escape attempt. After leaving Christ Church in March 1940, he was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps. Fluent in German, he completed the interrogation course at Swanage before being posted to the War Office as secretary to the committee investigating the Dunkirk evacuation. Following the committee’s report, Masterman transferred to the Security Service, working in the counter-espionage division. In 1941, he was assigned to debrief Dusko Popov. This encounter between a top Abwehr agent and his MI5 handler led to the creation of the Twenty Committee, responsible for overseeing double agent operations. Masterman chaired the weekly meetings of the Double Cross Committee, as it became known, and was later invited to write an account of its activities at the war’s conclusion. Twenty-seven years later, he revealed to his former employers that he had kept a copy of this manuscript and intended to publish it in America. This experience is detailed in his autobiography, On the Chariot Wheel, released two years before his death in June 1977.

Nigel West

Nigel West received his education in France and at London University. He worked as a researcher before joining the BBC, where he contributed to numerous television documentaries, including Spy!, which formed the basis for his first book, and Escape!. While still with the BBC, he was commissioned to write the wartime history of the Security Service, MI5, followed by MI6: British Intelligence Service Operations 1909-45 and A Matter of Trust: MI5 1945-72, which was the subject of an Attorney-General’s injunction. His other books include Unreliable Witness: Espionage Myths of World War II, Molehunt, GARBO, GCHQ: The Secret Wireless War, The Friends: Britain’s Postwar Secret Intelligence Operations, Games of Intelligence, Secret War: The Story of SOE, The Illegals, and Seven Spies Who Changed the World. Most recently, he compiled two anthologies, The Faber Book of Espionage and The Faber Book of Treachery. He is married with two children and lives in London and Devon. He is also the European Editor of a monthly journal, the World Intelligence Review.

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