SHORTLISTED FOR THE PUSHKIN HOUSE PRIZE''The most formidable spy in history'' IAN FLEMING''His work was impeccable'' KIM PHILBY''The spy to end spies'' JOHN LE CARR-orn of a German father and a Russian mother, Richard Sorge moved in a world of shifting alliances and infinite possibility. In the years leading up to and during the Second World War, he became a fanatical communist - and the Soviet Union-s most formidable spy. Combining charm with ruthless manipulation, he infiltrated and influenced the highest echelons of German, Chinese and Japanese society. His intelligence proved pivotal to the Soviet counter-offensive in the Battle of Moscow, which in turn determined the outcome of the war itself. Drawing on a wealth of declassified Soviet archives, this is a major biography of one of the greatest spies who ever lived.
