Agent Jack, Robert Hutton
Agent Jack, Robert Hutton
2 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

Agent Jack
The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter

Author: Robert Hutton

Narrator: Roger Davis

Unabridged: 11 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/12/2019


Synopsis

"An appealing mix of accessibility and research. [Hutton] has illuminated a fascinating and often appalling side of the war at home." — Wall Street Journal

The never-before-told story of Eric Roberts, who infiltrated a network of Nazi sympathizers in Great Britain in order to protect the country from the grips of fascism.

June 1940: Europe has fallen to Adolf Hitler’s army, and Britain is his next target. Winston Churchill exhorts the country to resist the Nazis, and the nation seems to rally behind him. But in secret, some British citizens are plotting to hasten an invasion.

Agent Jack tells the incredible true story of Eric Roberts, a seemingly inconsequential bank clerk who, in the guise of “Jack King”, helped uncover and neutralize the invisible threat of fascism on British shores. Gifted with an extraordinary ability to make people trust him, Eric Roberts penetrated the Communist Party and the British Union of Fascists before playing his greatest role for MI5: Hitler's man in London. Pretending to be an agent of the Gestapo, Roberts single-handedly built a network of hundreds of British Nazi sympathizers—factory workers, office clerks, shopkeepers —who shared their secrets with him. It was work so secret and so sensitive that it was kept out of the reports MI5 sent to Winston Churchill.

In a gripping real-world thriller, Robert Hutton tells the fascinating story of an operation whose existence has only recently come to light with the opening of MI5’s World War II files. Drawing on these newly declassified documents and private family archives, Agent Jack shatters the comforting notion that Britain could never have succumbed to fascism and, consequently, that the world could never have fallen to Hitler. Agent Jack is the story of one man who loved his country so much that he risked everything to stand against a rising tide of hate.

About Robert Hutton

Robert Hutton has been Bloomberg’s UK Political Correspondent since 2004. Before that he was a reporter on the Daily Mirror, and before that he built robots and taught computers to play Bridge at Edinburgh University. He’s married with two sons, and lives in South East London.Hutton's previous books include Would They Lie to You? and Romps, Tots and Boffins: The Strange Language of News.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on November 01, 2019

Agent Jack is the true story of Eric Roberts, who at first look, seemed to be your typical run of the mill bank clerk. What nobody really knew is that Mr. Roberts was in fact a highly talented MI5 agent known as Jack King, who excelled in infiltrating underground Fascist groups and fleshing out Nazi......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on October 25, 2018

Yet another book that continues the process of uncovering the long hidden stories of the work of MI5 during the war on counter-espionage. Robert Hutton has dug out and tracked down wealth of material on the activities of Eric Roberts, a bank clerk, who was co-opted to infiltrate groups of Nazi sympa......more

Goodreads review by Casey on August 18, 2019

his book is about the search for German sympathizers within England during World War II. It revolves around former banker Eric Roberts known as "Jack Kelly" to the British Union which was full of German sympathizers. The book is well written which makes for an interesting read. None of the exposed N......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on March 12, 2020

I love getting new angles on a period in history that I've read a lot about. I have read A LOT about WW2 (there's a lot to read!), but I never thought about the threat that British fascist supporters posed during the war or the internment that Britain enforced on its German, Italian, etc. citizens/r......more

Goodreads review by Thelastwordreview on March 24, 2019

Delighted to share my thoughts on the story of the MI5 agent at the very heart of Operation Fifth Column, which was the covert WWII operation that was to flush out Nazi sympathisers on British Soil. Just a few words on what the book is about: June 1940 and Britain stands alone as Hitler eyes his nex......more


Quotes

"Capably bringing to light a forgotten World War II story, British political correspondent Hutton ... has done an impressive job assembling transcripts, letters, interviews, and declassified documents into a delicious spy story. A delightful account of World War II espionage."
Kirkus starred review

"This entertaining, detailed narrative presents a chilling portrait of England under siege."
Publishers Weekly

"Robert Hutton has written a well-researched, highly readable account of Roberts's strange undercover life." —Ben Macintyre, The Times

"Eye-opening from start to finish. Pacy, original and frequently chilling, Hutton offers a fascinating new take on the story of the Home Front."—Henry Hemming, author of M: Maxwell Knight, MI5's Greatest Spymaster

"Robert Hutton's deeply researched, often astounding book describes how a loose network of homegrown fascists plotted to undermine wartime Britain, and explains the ingenious way MI5 attempted to neutralise them ... Hutton includes transcripts of eavesdropped conversations with these fanatics that would make your hair stand on end." —Anthony Quinn, Guardian


Awards

  • Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year