M - MI5's First Spymaster (Paperback)

The amazing true story of the real 'M', M15's founding father and the inspiration for Ian Fleming's character in James Bond. William Melville was one of the most influential counter-espionage figures of the twentieth century. From a tiny outfit based in Victoria Street in London, the counter-intelligence organization that Melville lobbied the Government to create is today a household name and one of the world's leading intelligence agencies. He was perfect for the job: a velvet gloved hardman who had run Scotland Yard's Special Branch and whose career had already taken in some of London's great crime dramas including the Jack the Ripper investigations; countering Irish Republican terrorism, assassination attempts on Queen Victoria and Edward VII, and anarchist bomb plots. Now, with help of recently declassified records, family material, and records that have still not officially seen the light of day, the story of his Secret Service career - including the breaking of German spy rings prior to the outbreak of World War I - can finally be told.