Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly

Rating:
Summary: A MONUMENTAL EFFORT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Review: 
The serious student of intelligence history will appreciate the exhaustive research that author
Spence put in to his revealing story of "The Ace of Spies," Sidney Reilly, (Born Salomon
Rosenblum, Poland).
A Professor of History at the University of Idaho, Spence has provided a density of detail that
one seldom encounters in an espionage biography. But, that density is a two edged sword. On
the one hand, the academically oriented will relish the microscopic facts from fantasy discussion
of Reilly's life and world. On the other hand, those seeking more drama and less detail may find
Trust No One, a rather slow going read.
Spence often conjectures where facts are absent, but his "maybe" and "perhaps" offerings add
to the mystery that was Sidney Reilly, without subtracting from the author's monumental efforts
at ferreting out the truth of the man who trusted no one.
In reading this new biography of an old spy, we see the world of finance, oil, espionage and
war is not very different today than it was in the early years of the last century-only the
technology has improved. The international stew of greed, double dealing and conflicts of interest
which made up the main course of Sidney Reilly's diet, is still being served up hot on today's
international menus.

Rating:
Summary: No One to Trust
Review: 'In the end, despite an impressive display of names, dates, and events involving Reilly, the outcome is such a bewildering mix of lies and half truths that even Prof.Spence is forced to conclude with an admission that Reilly's "entrance and exit from this world are equally shrouded in mistery." The same can be said of the time in between', writes in his review of Richard Spence's book Hayden Peake, a leading international expert, and he also adds that 'Cook (the author of the On His Majesty's Secret Service--ed) appeares to be better documented.'
Hayden Peake, No 1 CIA literary authority, is very diplomatic. Spence's book is a clear failure, which stands out as if commissioned by the Russian intelligence services. So there is no surprise that Vladimir Abarinov, one of the online reviewers and at the same time the US correspondent of the Sovershenno Sekretno, a KGB Russian newspaper, speaks so high about Dr Spence's work. In January 2003 Mr Abarinov wrote a huge, multipage review of the book praising the author, which was published in three consequent editions of his Moscow newspaper. No surprise: Richard Spence helps the KGB/SVR/FSB to promote the following:
1) operation TRUST was a great achievement of the OGPU;
No comment, better read Andrew Cook's book.
2) British capitalists were preparing to organize overthrow of the Bolsheviks, and Trotsky was their paid agent;
Absolute and confirmed lies.
3) Reilly was betrayed by his former SIS colleagues Ernest Boyce and George Hill, who were the OGPU agents;
There is no proof found until now that either Boyce or Hill ever worked for the OGPU. One can be quite sure, however, that both gentlemen had never been the OGPU agents. Hill later served as a SOE liaison in Moscow during the WWII.
5) Maria Zakharchenko and Georgy Radkevich were OGPU agents;
Not true. Zakharchenko and Radkevich were ROVS Gen.Kutepov's envoys. Both were later killed during attacks on the OGPU buildings.
In addition, not all the names of those KRO officers who took part in the TRUST are named by Spence, though he could easily find out as in 2000 Russia published a collection of commemorative stamps showing six principal actors, from Artuzov to Syroezhkin who managed to lure BOTH Savinkov and Reilly to Russia. There are many others, as Roman Birk, for example, who also took part and about whom KGB prefers not to speak (he later studied in Vienna and worked undercover in Berlin). Spending so many years on the research, Professor Spence could definitely produce better results. 'Overall,' remarks Hayden Peake in this review, published in the Studies in Intelligence,'the 500 pages of this book do more to show how little is reliably known about Reilly than how much.' So why should one bother reading the staff?

Rating:
Summary: Sordidly Engaging!
Review: Out of a deck stacked with double agents, drawing the 'Ace of Spies', has been a most fortunate turn of hand for author/researcher Richard Spence . In his book Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly published by Feral House, the featured spy's penchant for mercurial subterfuge, not to mention his agility in terms of maintaining multiple as well as charming identities are impressively articulated through Spence's compelling research. Reilly's resume of cozenage, sordid and otherwise, would certainly attract the interest of the Transational Corporations currently our world. They would probably hire Sidney on the spot and let him conduct their gun running errands carte blanche. Such intriguing possibilities make reading Trust No One a most worthwhile endeavor, for the author allows us into a world not easily accessible through the mainstream. Most fascinating are the descriptions of Reilly's ability to simultaneously hobnob with personae found in Tsarist Russia such as Rasputin to far flinging fascist elements found in Italy, America and elsewhere, punctuating his shady dealings, primarily in arms, with incendiary love affairs, art collecting and socializing with such notable celebrities as Rudolfo Guglielmi otherwise known as Valentino, Aleister Crowley and others of shadowy ilk. I recommend this book for any fan of international liasons and the runners who make them happen. (...)