Rogue Agent details the extraordinary life of Robert Bruce Lockhart who I had never heard of before reading this book. He had an incredibly full and complicated life working for British intelligence from 1917, when he attempted to convince Trotsky and Lenin to keep Russia involved in the First World War through to trying to keep Czechoslovakia free from communist rule and then as Director Gereral of PWE the propaganda department in World War 2.
In addition he managed to work as a journalist for Lord Beaverbrook's newspapers and knew him well in addition to rubbing shoulders with the likes of Churchill and Eden. This is a thoroughly engrossing book and much more interesting than I had expected it to be. Thoroughly recommended.

Dining with Trotsky, courting a Ukrainian countess, staring down execution - it was all in a day’s work for the invincible Lockhart. This amazing man was like a real-life James Bond! Unfortunately, his problems with drinking, philandering and the resulting depression played havoc with his career at certain times but the brilliant young man who joined the Foreign Office and tried to bring down Lenin still managed to achieve a great deal, playing a leading role in gathering intelligence during the war and eventually becoming a best-selling author.

I received a free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Free ARC from Net Galley

I loved this book. I read one opinion of a 'flawed maverick', what a buffoon, all mavericks are flawed, you get one from the other. Here was a romancer and part necromancer when it came to the early serious psychological operations where if the mind wasn't bulletproof your body would soon be filled with bullet holes! Read and be amazed at what men did BEFORE they were told they couldn't!!!!

Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart (1887–1970) was an impressive figure: a diplomat, intelligence agent, conspirator, journalist and propagandist who played a key role in both world wars. He was a man who charmed his way into the confidences of everyone from Leon Trotsky to Anthony Eden. A man whom the influential press baron Lord Beaverbook claimed ‘could well have been prime minister’. And yet Lockhart died almost forgotten and near destitute, a Scottish footnote in the pages of history.
James Crossland delves into the life of Lockhart in a way that reads more like a spy novel. It was a fun and educational Book.