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Beverly Hills Spy by Ronald Drabkin (Hardback)
£22.00
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9780063310070
Published:
15 Feb 2024
Format:
Hardback
Number of pages:
272 pages
Dimensions:
229x152x25mm
Weight:
0.401kgs
Author:
Frederick Rutland was an accomplished aviator, British WWI war hero, and real-life James Bond. He was the first pilot to take off and land a plane on a ship, a decorated warrior for his feats of bravery and rescue, was trusted by the admirals of the Royal Navy, had a succession of aeronautical inventions, and designed the first modern aircraft carrier. He was perhaps the most famous early 20th-century naval aviator. Despite all of this, and due mostly to class politics, Rutland was not promoted in the new Royal Air Force in the wake of WWI. This ignominy led the disgruntled Rutland to become a spy for the Japanese government. Plied with riches and given a salary ten times the highest-paid admiral, shuttled between Los Angeles and Tokyo where he lived in large mansions in both Beverly Hills and Yokohama, Rutland would go on to contribute to the Japanese navy with both strategic and technical intelligence.
"A beguiling tale of espionage and double-dealing in the years leading up to World War II. ... Strap in for a narrative that demands a suspension of disbelief-and richly rewards it." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review); Best Books of February Selection
The untold story of the World War I hero who became a fixture of high society in Golden Age Hollywood-all while acting as a double agent for the Japanese Empire as it prepared to attack Pearl Harbor
Frederick Rutland's story is a rags-to-riches coup for the ages-a lower-class boy from England bootstraps his way up the ranks of the British military, becoming a World War I pilot, father of the modern aircraft carrier, cosmopolitan businessman, and Hollywood A-list insider. He oversaw this small empire from his mansion on the fabled Bird Streets of Beverly Hills. Snubbed for promotion in the Royal Air Force due to little more than jealousy and class politics, Rutland-to all appearances-continued to spin gold from straw, living an enviably lavish lifestyle that included butlers, wild parties, private clubs, and newswor-thy living . . .
. . . and it was all funded by the Japanese Empire.
Beverly Hills Spy reveals the story of Rutland's life of espi-onage on behalf of the Axis, selling secrets about fleet and aircraft design to the Japanese Imperial Navy that would be instrumental in its ability to attack Pearl Harbor, while col-lecting a salary ten times larger than the best-paid Japanese admirals. Based on recently declassified FBI files and until-now untranslated documents from Japanese intelligence, Ronald Drabkin brings the scope of this unforgettable tale into full focus for the first time. Rutland hides in plain sight, rubbing elbows with Amelia Earhart and hosting galas and fundraisers with superstars like Charlie Chaplin and Boris Karloff, while simultaneously passing information to Japan through spy networks across North and Central America. Countless opportunities to catch Rutland in the act are squandered by the FBI, British Intelligence, and US Naval
Intelligence alike as he uses his cunning and charm to mis-direct and cast shadows of doubt over his business dealings, allowing him to operate largely unfettered for years.
In the end, whether he fully intends to or not, Rutland sets in motion world events that are so monumental, their consequences are still being felt today.
Beverly Hills Spy is a masterpiece of research on spy craft, a shocking narrative about an unknown but pivotal figure in history, and brings new information to light that helps us understand how Pearl Harbor happened-and how it could have been prevented.
About the Author: Ronald Drabkin is the author of Beverly Hills Spy and peer-reviewed articles on Japanese espionage. His obsession with espionage history started when he was as a child in Los Angeles, where he vaguely understood that his father had been working for the US military in counterintelligence. Later he discovered that his grandfather had also been in "the business," and it drove a voyage of discovery into previously classified documents on three continents. His career prior to writing was at early stage startups in the US, where he was an early adopter of Google and Facebook advertising. He currently lives in Tokyo.
| Number of pages | 272 |
|---|
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