Agent Cicero

This is the story of the most successful German spy of World War II, the Albanian Elyesa Bazna - an untrained opportunist. Bazna working as a valet to the British ambassador to Turkey in Ankara. He photographed 'Top Secret' material on critically important policy and military issues, which he sold for vast sums to the Germans. He became the most highly paid spy in history. However he never got to enjoy his ill-gotten gains, for the British banknotes he demanded came from 'Operation Bernhard', the counterfeiting project set up by the SD, the Nazi foreign espionage department. Cicero even stumbled across 'Operation Overlord' code-name for D-Day; but this was not his greatest success. Because of in-fighting between various German departments, full use was never made of the material he provided. Having accessed recently released British Secret Service files - the affair has always been an embarrassment to the British - Mark Simmons brings the same pace and insight to this remarkable story as he did with the best-selling The Rebecca Code.

Auteur

MARK SIMMONS was born into a family with a long tradition of service in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. In the 1970s he served in the Royal Marines with 40 Commando RM, 3 Commando Brigade, and with the Commando Logistics Regiment. He has written over 130 articles, primarily on military and travel subjects. His other books include The Battle of Matapan and The Rebecca Code.

Résumé
ELYESA BAZNA WAS THE HIGHEST-PAID SPY IN HISTORY. Working for the British ambassador in Ankara in 1943, Bazna photographed top-secret documents and sold them to the Nazis. So started his career as a 'walk-in', a freelance spy whose loyalties lay with the highest bidder. His codename was Cicero. But a beautiful woman was to end it all. Cicero was compromised by an American-controlled agent working at the German Embassy, who obtained his codename and discovered that he was working at the British Embassy. He fled and narrowly avoided being captured by the tipped-off British. Finally free, he realised his money was worthless most of it was counterfeit, produced by the Nazi scheme Operation Bernhard. In Agent Cicero: Hitler's Most Successful Spy, Mark Simmons weaves together personal accounts by the leading characters and information from top-secret files from MI5, MI6 and the CIA to tell this astonishing story.