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An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent Hardcover – 21 Mar. 2019

by Owen Matthews (Author)

4.4 638 ratings

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE PRIZE

'The most formidable spy in history' Ian Fleming

'A superb biography ... More than a hundred books have been written about him and this is undoubtedly the best' Ben Macintyre

Richard Sorge was a man with two homelands. Born of a German father and a Russian mother in Baku in 1895, he moved in a world of shifting alliances and infinite possibility. A member of the angry and deluded generation who found new, radical faiths after their experiences on the battlefields of the First World War, Sorge became a fanatical communist - and the Soviet Union's most formidable spy.

Like many great spies, Sorge was an effortless seducer, combining charm with ruthless manipulation. He did not have to go undercover to find out closely guarded state secrets - his victims willingly shared them. As a foreign correspondent, he infiltrated and influenced the highest echelons of German, Chinese and Japanese society in the years leading up to and including the Second World War. His intelligence regarding Operation Barbarossa and Japanese intentions not to invade Siberia in 1941 proved pivotal to the Soviet counteroffensive in the Battle of Moscow, which in turn determined the outcome of the war.

Never before has Sorge's story been told from the Russian side as well as the German and Japanese. Owen Matthews takes a sweeping historical perspective and draws on a wealth of declassified Soviet archives - along with testimonies from those who knew and worked with Sorge - to rescue the riveting story of the man described by Ian Fleming as 'the most formidable spy in history'.

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Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date

21 Mar. 2019
Dimensions

16.51 x 3.68 x 24.13 cm
ISBN-10

1408857782
ISBN-13

978-1408857786
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Owen Matthews
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From the Publisher

Product description

Review

A fascinating biography ... Owen Matthews tells the story of Sorge's extraordinary life with tremendous verve and expertise and a real talent for mise en scène. Shanghai in the 1930s and prewar Tokyo, Sorge's stamping grounds, come vividly alive in these pages and the portrait of Sorge himself that emerges is richly authentic -- William Boyd ― New Statesman

Gloriously readable . Every chapter of Matthews's superbly researched biography reads like something from an Eric Ambler thriller -- Dominic Sandbrook ― Sunday Times

A superb biography . Alive to Sorge's human flaws as much as to his professional competence, and with a salutary vein of anger running through it . More than a hundred books have been written about him and this is undoubtedly the best: detailed, wry, sympathetic and occasionally oddly moving -- Ben Macintyre ― The Times

A vividly told story, thoroughly researched and well-crafted ... I love a thrilling spy story, especially one as superbly narrated as this, full of Bond-like drama about Sorge's brushes with death, his love of fast cars and women ... A highly relevant book for today ― Financial Times

Magnificently written . An Impeccable Spy is packed with humour and insight and all served up with a rare lightness of touch . Ben Macintyre and John le Carré fans alike will find themselves very much at home -- Oliver Bullough ― Observer

Vivid and revealing ... Within a few pages, it is clear that An Impeccable Spy is going to be a very good read ... Better than any previous biography -- Christopher Andrew ― Literary Review

A gripping human story with the complexity of a political thriller . An excellent history, which sheds new light on Sorge and his work. Unless something significant turns up about him in the German Nazi-era intelligence archives, it is likely to be the definitive work on him in English ― Standpoint

Brilliant ... A clear-eyed, deeply researched and finely-judged portrait -- Saul David ― Telegraph

[An] impressive biography . Matthews captures all the drama of Sorge's story . The complexities of Soviet, German and Japanese politics and infighting of the time are skilfully navigated and the personalities brought vividly to life. With this book as our evidence, we can say that Sorge was an impeccable spy, and also that Matthews is an impeccable biographer -- Vin Arthey ― Scotsman

Riveting ... An eye-rubbing story ― Spectator

Anyone praised by John le Carré deserves a meticulously researched and atmospheric biography such as Own Matthews' An Impeccable Spy -- Terry Philpot ― Tablet

Riveting . Owen Matthews sticks to the facts and gives a vivid portrayal of the man and his times . A cut above -- John Green ― Morning Star

It's an incredible story and Matthews tells it very well ― Daily Telegraph

Owen Matthews tells this story well, with an eye for anecdote and character, and with the help of a vast range of sources . For those who wonder whether individuals can make a difference to history, the case of Richard Sorge will always supply a kind of answer -- Mark Mazower ― Times Literary Supplement

Book Description

The thrilling true story of Richard Sorge - the man John le Carré called 'the spy to end spies', and whose actions turned the tide of the Second World War

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing; 1st edition (21 Mar. 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1408857782
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1408857786
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.51 x 3.68 x 24.13 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 279,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 105 in Japanese Historical Biographies
- 168 in United States Historical Biographies

Customer reviews:
4.4 638 ratings

About the author

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Owen Matthews

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Owen Matthews was born in London in 1971. He studied Modern History at Oxford University before beginning his career as a freelance journalist in Bosnia. His stories have appeared in a number of publications including the Spectator, Harper's and Queen and Private Eye, the Times and Sunday Times, the Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, the Daily Mail and the Times Literary Supplement. From 1995 to 1997 he worked at The Moscow Times, a daily English-language newspaper in Moscow, with forays into Lebanon and Afghanistan.

In 1997 Owen became a correspondent for Newsweek magazine, covering the second Chechen war as well as Russian politics and society. From 2001 to 2006 he was based in Istanbul, covering the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2006 he has combined the jobs of Newsweek's Moscow bureau chief and Istanbul correspondent. Owen is the author of Stalin's Children: Three Generations of Love and War, published by Bloomsbury in June 2008, which was shortlisted for that year's Guardian First Books Award and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and listed among the Books of the Year by the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator. Stalin's Children has been translated into twenty languages, and the French edition (Les Enfants de Staline, Belfond, 2009) was shortlisted for the Prix Medicis Etranger 2009 and the Grand Prix des Lectrices d'Elle 2010.

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4.4 out of 5

638 global ratings

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Clive from Berkshire

Fascinating read ! The soviet penetration in this ira was incredible.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 June 2019

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A brilliant read ! and a well researched book it told me a great deal about politics in Germany Pre world war 2 ,I didn’t fully understand how strong the communists were in Germany via the work force they were very very active in trying to change opinion and I guess Sorge became a part on this system .It was intriguing his time in China and his relationship with Agnes Smedley and red Sonja who we now know ran the Nuclear Scientist Klaus Fuchs from Oxford when Fuchs was based at Harwell the Atomic weapons establishment.It was strange how Sir Roger Hollis who became head of MI6 was wandering around in Shanghai at the time and mixed with Smedley who was a soviet spy.You can draw conclusion of his involvement with red Sonja in Oxford ,the book implies Hollis was recruited in Shanghai by the Russians and indeed travel home via Moscow which is strange behaviour of an Englishman in those time.I didn’t fully understand that when Hollis was interigated it was never fully disclosed he was a soviet mole but the connection is there.Why would he not be buried in a grave if he hadn’t been a spy it appears there could have been a cover up as the security services didn’t want another scandal after Philby,Burgess,McLean and Sir Anthony Blunt were exposed as soviet agents.A fascinating book that certainly pieces together some of the puzzle on soviet penetration in society in general in that era.

3 people found this helpful

Carl the Critic

The human cost of spying

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 June 2019

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This is an exceptionally good read, full of psychological insights into the characters of the spy ring and their motivations and foibles. It is generally backed up with good historical knowledge to provide context.
It is spoilt by a small number of factual errors and unnecessary assumptions. Koenigsberg never fell to the Tsar’s armies in the Great War; the Bismarck was a battleship (not a battlecruiser) and was finally sunk by ship launched torpedoes (air launched ones stopped her from escaping). Such errors undermine the faith in other aspects of the reporting. Indicating that the European working classes were often seduced by fascism is a perversion of the historical record. While considerable segments of the working classes may have supported fascist movements (especially after the seizure of power in Germany), fascism’s core support was middle class and its most bitter opposition among the organised working class. Finally, it is unhelpful to introduce Sorge as a ‘bad’ man, when the narrative is often sympathetic to his endurance of enormous stresses.
But for these would have got five stars.
However, these are minor points in the record, which portrays the effects of Stalin’s terror on the whole soviet apparatus and the crucial effects of the US oil embargo on Japanese policy choices.
Great psychological insights; gripping narrative; very good analysis.
Recommended for history buffs and those interested in the human condition.

19 people found this helpful

The names Sorge , Richard Sorge

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2023

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I’m currently half way through this and really enjoying it . Owen Mathews is my favourite author on Russian matters , he’s a good novelist as well. This biography goes into significant history detail , I’m very impressed

The Brilliant Spy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 April 2019

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There are many accounts of Richard Sorge, but I am sure this is one the best - about Shanghai and Tokyo in 1930s and 1940s. An idealistic Communist Sorge was also astonishingly spy - as a journalistic, but he ran his only foundation understanding Chinese and Japanese politics. Somehow he got through the also Nazis at the German Embassy, and the spies he he ran through Japanese circles. He drank a lot, a Russian wife and forty girlfriends. He didn't like Japan but China. He smashed a motorcycle and a car. Le Carre thought he was the best spy. He knew about Germany's plans and understood that the Japanese wouldn't invade Manchuria, but they would attack Singapore and British possessions. This is a great narrative, and sad that Sorge told the Japanese he was a Communist and was hanged in 1942. Another film please. A real hero of the twentieth century. The apparatchiks of Stalin didn't rate him - cowardly and stupid, but he did made ultimately, sure that Russians won the war.

7 people found this helpful

A spy thriller that Ian Fleming woould envy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2021

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The story of Richard Sorge present a great insight into spying activities for the Soviet Union in Shanghai and then Japan. I guess it was inevitable that he would be found out in the end and a pity took a long time for the Soviet Union to recognise the importance and significance of his activities.

Richard Sorge, the flawed master

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 April 2019

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I suppose all spies are flawed masters. Richard Sorge, a German born in Baku, and a spy for Moscow for years in China and then Japan, was one of the true masters. He lasted seven years in Tokyo, and it was not his weakness but that of a confrère that betrayed him. In the end it seems Moscow simply forgot about him. Before, of course, hagiographising him some years later. Sorge, with his drinking and womanising, hid in plain sight. That's the way to do it. A masterly portrait. Read this.

10 people found this helpful

Sir Harold Woodbury

Incredible story - hard to believe it's true

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2020

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The amazing story of Richard Sorge, Russia's phenomenally successful spy in Japan at the start of WW2. He was a man with such charisma that he could fool almost anyone into working with him and feeding him with information. Ironic that the Russians, Stalin in particular, were so suspicious of everyone that they often did not use the information he sent them. Hard to understand how he could continue to work for such an appalling regime. My only criticism of the book is that it fails to really get under his skin and explore his motivations and what kind of future he hoped to have after the war. He was far too intelligent to believe the USSR would ever have welcomed him back and let him live in peace.

One person found this helpful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 June 2021

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Good story well told

Top reviews from other countries

mariska stevens

best researched, complete account on Richard Sorge's life

Reviewed in the Netherlands on 27 December 2023

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this book is one of the best researched biographies I ever read, Anyone who is engaged in research in Japan, China, Russia and Germany around world war two will be fascinated by the comprehensive information and the sense of humor that surrounds it. Richard Sorge was indeed an incredible spy, with incredible, yet unrecognized integrity.

Kiwi

Sehr interresant und Wahr.

Reviewed in Germany on 7 October 2023

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Very well written and even more interesting because it is a true story. Only certain people can live the life of a real spy. I'm also reading 'The Spy and the Traitor' again a true story set in the time of the Cold War. On the cover it has the comment from Le Carré...The Best True Spy Story I have Ever Read! Praise indeed!

albionphoto

Whoever heard of Richard Sorge? Possibly the most important spy ever.

Reviewed in the United States on 16 June 2020

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I recently went though a phase of reading a lot about real espionage. This happens every once in a while and I have reviewed a number of books about intelligence services and spies.
This is the story of Richard Sorge. The book tries to make the case that he was the most important spy ever. It's certainly possible. Who was Richard Sorge? He was a german who fought in World War 1 and became a socialist. He was recruited into the Russian intelligence services and eventually posted to Japan. He was the spy who finally convinced the Russians that Japan wasn't going to invade Russia. This allowed Russia to properly fight the Nazis in Western Europe. For this alone he really is the most important spy ever.
Like all spies Sorge was a very flawed character, a drinker, a womaniser, an adventure seeker. He was distrusted by his masters, adored by his conquests and co-conspirators. He was able to operate in Japan convincing both the germans and the Japanese that he was on their side.
The book is quite long and can't quite maintain the pace it begins with. There is a lot of detail. Most of the time this doesn't get in the way of the narrative. Sorge is the shining light of this book, his flaws and passions are essential to his character and his downfall. Th book also highlights that spies are almost always flawed and are only effective if their spymasters believe them.
The only real flaws witht he book are the foot notes which are liberally scattered throughout each page and most often refer to relatively few documents and the fact that the story of Sorge's capture and end of his spy-ring is brushed over. How the good times end deserved more time in this book as it is so important to the story.
Sadly, Sorge is never going to be a household name but he really was the most important spy ever and this book does a great job of telling his story.

8 people found this helpful

Hugh Snyder

Very informative, gripping

Reviewed in Canada on 25 April 2020

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An excellent history of the period 1917 - 1943 , from a Soviet/Japanese perspecctive. At the same time one of the finest books I have read in the espionage genre

One person found this helpful

S.Misra

The Most Invaluable Spy of World War II

Reviewed in India on 29 December 2019

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Richard Sorge was a complex character. A Journalist, who was acknowledged as a China & Japan expert, through long spells in Shanghai & Tokyo. Deeply engaged in literature and the ability to charm whoever he met, from all walks of life.

He also built a formidable spy network in both cities. In Tokyo, he was a confidante of the German Ambassador, while his Japanese counterpart performed a similar role to Members of The Cabinet. Sorge fed accurate Japanese information to the German Ambassador, who would reciprocate with Germany's war aims with respect to the USSR.

Sorge would, then, feed this back to his superiors in the Red Army Intelligence section, whom he served as a card carrying Communist and Red Army Officer. He alerted Stalin of Hitler's attack on the USSR (was ignored) and then gave Stalin the assurance that Japan would Not attack Russia's Far East (advice taken), which allowed Stalin to redeploy the troops from Siberia to the defence of Moscow, turning the tide of war.

The spy ring was undone by a 57-year old Japanese-American housewife, who had returned to Okinawa and betrayed one of her Japanese friends, under interrogation. Sorge's last word on the gallows " Long Live The Red Army -- Long Live Communism" . The Japanese Prosecutor called him "the greatest mind I ever met".

Under Krushchev, the Soviet Union declared Sorge a Hero of The Soviet Union, issued a postage stamp in his honour , launched a ship named after him and built a statue in Moscow.

2 people found this helpful

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