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Spymaster

The Man Who Saved MI6

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Spymaster

By: Helen Fry
Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
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About this listen

The dramatic story of a man who stood at the center of British intelligence operations, the ultimate spymaster of World War Two: Thomas Kendrick

Thomas Kendrick (1881-1972) was central to the British Secret Service from its beginnings through to the Second World War. Under the guise of "British Passport Officer," he ran spy networks across Europe, facilitated the escape of Austrian Jews, and later went on to set up the "M Room," a listening operation which elicited information of the same significance and scope as Bletchley Park. Yet the work of Kendrick, and its full significance, remains largely unknown.

Helen Fry draws on extensive original research to tell the story of this remarkable British intelligence officer. Kendrick's life sheds light on the development of MI6 itself - he was one of the few men to serve Britain across three wars, two of which while working for the British Secret Service. Fry explores the private and public sides of Kendrick, revealing him to be the epitome of the "English gent" - easily able to charm those around him and scrupulously secretive.

©2021 Helen Fry (P)2021 Tantor Freedom & Security Military Military & War Politics & Government World War II Espionage War Imperialism Holocaust

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All stars
Most relevant  
Great story that rises above its poor reading.
A must read for any student of the history of the secret intelligence service and its impact over the first half of the 20th century.
Some might argue that the analysis of the contribution this story makes to the overall impact on WW2 is overstated. Certainly it was an important and noteworthy element in the team effort of history.
Proselytizing on behalf of main character and subject of the book is confined to the Epilogue is appropriate and compelling.

Insights into the insights of SIS

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I found this book fascinating and compelling to listen to. It seemed to be well researched.

Fascinating book

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Absolutely riveting listening highly recommend I was eager to looking forward to each chapter and I will definitely pay a visit to Latimer House

Brilliant

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The story of Kendrick was engaging - but the pronunciation was often terrible. German words were butchered - but also so many curiously pronounced words in english. Shame.

Great book but.....

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AUTHOR
...has obviously found out about this Thomas Kendrick character and that recently declassified documents revel him as rather an unsung hero. I sense the author is somewhat frustrated and feels the need to get this out there so his achievements and status can be more widely recognised and lauded. Having listened to the book I full agree with and congratulate her for bringing such an incredible man and his historic achievements to wider attention. Well researched and carefully written.

NARRATOR
Mispronounces words ("Cadogan", "nascent" etc.). This cheapens the book. Also is one of "those" Brits who, as a teenager, decided to pronounce his "t"s as "d"s in mistaken belief it was cool and never dropped the habit. Frustrating hearing what the "Briddish" did during the war. All the way through. Cue Alan Partridge, "a dosser and a dwad". This is fine if you're a '90s regional late-night radio DJ. Or if you're narrating cheap WH Smith SAS fiction. But sadly detracts from this book which requires a higher qualidy, bedder educaded narrator.

Fairly interesting read, irritating narrator

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This is essentially two stories in one; Thomas Kendrick's pre-war career in MI6 in Austria and then leading the interrogation and bugging of senior German POWs in World War 2. Both are interesting and rarely covered given that the files were only declassified 20 years ago. It fills a gap and demonstrates very careful research.

There are a few flaws though. The author tries hard to bring Kendrick's achievements to the fore but rather overplays her hand. "The man who saved MI6" is far-fetched and not substantiated. Equally, there are various claims that the intelligence acquired through bugging senior German officers saved Britain from invasion in 1943 (sic) amongst others. They detract from an otherwise well-constructed story.
This book needs some judicious editing too. In particular the narrative around Kendrick's time in Austria before the war which sometimes lists so many names that it feels like listening to a telephone directory.
Finally, like other reviewers, I found the narrator just annoying.

Interesting but flawed

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I have read and listened to many books about war and espionage. This book is written as flat as a Wikipedia page. Don't get me wrong sometimes I spend hours reading in Wikipedia about historical facts, but I expected a book to be a bit more interesting and exciting than just a completely insipid 10 hr. narrative of facts one after the other like a bad lesson from high-school. Probably wost that is in Audio. maybe in a book or kindle with a coffee it's a bit easier to stay into the facts and read the book.

Boring, flat really manage to kill all my interest

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