A biography of a much-romanticised Russian spy. Sorge spied on Japan while working for the Nazis while working for the Soviets. His fame rests on his determination of the date of Pearl Harbour (which Stalin didn’t pass on to the Americans), and his confirmation that Japan would not attack the Russian East (which Stalin was slow to believe) that allowed the Red Army to transfer a huge number of troops to fight and defeat the Wehrmacht at the gates of Stalingrad: one of the battles that decisively determined the outcome of the Second World War.

He was clearly a complex and troubled man, as many spies are. His cover as a hard-drinking womaniser wasn’t much of an act, and he spent Moscow’s money freely to keep in character. But he was also very badly served by his handlers, routinely disbelieved and threatened with the Stalinist purges, and sent a succession of inept collaborators. His commitment to Communism was sufficient to ride-out these challenges.

I would have liked to have read more about his “afterlife” in press and politics: it’s only covered briefly here, but there’s clearly a lot to be learned from his later rehabilitation and promotion as a Soviet idealist.

4/5. Finished Saturday 4 January, 2025.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)