Master Of Spies - The Memoirs of General Moravec

Hardback with d/w, both in excellent used condition. Mild foxing on pages edge and inside of covers. First Edition published by Bodley Head (1975). 254pp. Happy to combine purchases for post.

Astonishing long out of print memoir from a man whose life the whole word should remember. General Moravec had the rare distinction of fighting and risking his life to free his country from not one but three empires (Austro-Hungary, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia). His tales of starting the Czech intelligence service from scratch and eventually leading it into exile are hair raising real life thriller stuff.

The book at times flows like a spy thriller and is written with a humanity not often found in this genre. It begins with General Frantisek Moravec's WWI experiences and examines how he built the Czech Intelligence Service and recruited arguably the most important spy of WWII. He traces the run up to Munich, the invasion of Poland and the defeat of France - plans to all of which were known, provided to and not believed by the Allies. The chapter on the killing of Heydrich is also most insightful. The book ends with the old theme of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" as the Russians begin to put up the Iron Curtain. The latter part of the book is similar to Winston Churchill's Triumph and Tragedy as it relates to Czechoslovakia of that time period.

General Frantisek Moravec never saw the Prague Spring or the eventual collapse of the Iron Curtain, but his spirit and that of other freedom loving people stand as a testament to their finest hour.