The Spy Net

The Greatest Intelligence Operations of the First World War

Henry Landau

• Publisher: Biteback Publishing
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781849549066
• eBook ISBN:
  9781849549585
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Intelligence & Espionage
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The 'White Lady' spy net stretched across Europe, encompassing more than 1, 000 agents and producing 70 per cent of Allied intelligence on the German forces in the First World War. Through sheer ingenuity, it maintained a staggeringly complex network of spies deep behind enemy lines, who provided vital information on troop movements to and from the Western Front. Its success rested on one man: Henry Landau. Talent-spotted while on a dinner date with one of the secret service's secretaries, Landau left with an exclusive invitation to the service headquarters to meet the legendary 'C' (Mansfield Cumming, the 'chief' of what is now MI6). Fully aware that the man on the other side of the door had a reputation for intimidating his young recruits - such as stabbing his leg without letting on that it was wooden - Landau never expected to be given the daunting task of running La Dame Blanche, nor did he realise how instrumental he would be in helping the Allies turn the tide of the war. Vivid, fast-paced and utterly compelling, The Spy Net is the extraordinary story of the war's most successful intelligence operation, as told by the man who pulled the strings.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• CONTENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: FROM BOER TO BRITON
• CHAPTER 2: GETTING TO THE FIRING LINE
• CHAPTER 3: I ENTER THE BRITISH SECRET SERVICE
• CHAPTER 4: VAN BERGEN STARTS MY FIRST ORGANISATION
• CHAPTER 5: THE WHITE LADY OF THE HOHENZOLLERNS
• CHAPTER 6: MILITARISATION OF THE ‘WHITE LADY’
• CHAPTER 7: THE HIRSON PLATOON
• CHAPTER 8: THE GERMAN SECRET POLICE — THEIR METHODS AND ORGANISATION
• CHAPTER 9: EXPLOITS OF THE CHIMAY COMPANY
• CHAPTER 10: THE AFFAIR OF THE VILLA DES HIRONDELLES
• CHAPTER 11: LÉON TRULIN — YOUNGEST SPY SHOT DURING THE WAR
• CHAPTER 12: THE BISCOPS SERVICE
• CHAPTER 13: THE CONNEUX FLYING SQUAD
• CHAPTER 14: SIEGBURG — PRISON FOR WOMEN
• CHAPTER 15: DESERTERS AND A DAME
• CHAPTER 16: SURPRISES OF THE COAST PATROL — THE WIRELESS TORPEDO BOAT
• CHAPTER 17: ESPIONAGE, COUNTER-ESPIONAGE AND SPY HYSTERIA
• CHAPTER 18: ‘40 OB’
• CHAPTER 19: SPY FROM THE SKY
• CHAPTER 20: AN ASTOUNDING PROPOSITION FROM THE HAMBURG SOLDIERS’ COUNCIL — AND EXIT THE KAISER
• CHAPTER 21: LIQUIDATION OF THE SERVICE
• CHAPTER 22: EDITH CAVELL — REFLECTIONS
• CHAPTER 23: PASSPORT CONTROL IN GERMANY
• CHAPTER 24: YVONNE — AN INTERLUDE
• CHAPTER 25: INVESTIGATING WAR WIZARDRY
• CHAPTER 26: THE GERMAN SECRET SERVICE MAKES A PROPOSAL
• CHAPTER 27: RUSSIAN ADVENTURE
• CHAPTER 28: SABOTAGE IN THE USA — BLACK TOM BLOWS UP
• CHAPTER 29: THE KINGSLAND FIRE
• Copyright