Customer Reviews

Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly

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I wonder why a character who calls himself "Borwall" has attempted to discredit professor and author Richard Spence and his book and promote a competing book by one Mr. Cook.

From "Borwall's" comments I really have to wonder whether he actually read TRUST NO ONE himself. He definitely didn't read it very carefully because in the list of things cited as the author's cardinal errors and misinterpretations, he manages to misrepresent what is actually said.

For instance, author Richard Spence does not argue that Trust was a great Soviet achievement; exactly the opposite is the case. While Spence theorizes that elements in British intelligence sought to use Trotsky for their purposes, and vice versa, that's hardly the same as presenting him as a tool of capitalist restoration. Re Hill and Boyce's ambiguous loyalties, and the Radkevichs, Spence stands by his sources and conclusions. "Borwall" repeatedly tosses off phrases such as "absolute and complete lies" in attacking the author's views or "quite sure" in advancing his own, but in neither instance does he reference the slightest evidence to support these sweeping assertions. In the absence of a reasoned and factual rebuttal, he resorts to cheap shots of innuendo, ad hominem attack, and unsubstantiated claims of superior knowledge.

Finally, speaking of cheap smears, author Spence is not an agent of the KGB or its successors or, for that matter, a freemanson or tool of the Elders of Zion. Likewise, the folks at Sovershenno Sekretno would be very surprised to see themselves labeled a "KGB paper."

Adam Parfrey

Feral House


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.

Spence masterfully captures the romance of the Reilly legend while putting it in historical perspective.

James Jesus Angleton, the famed CIA chief of counter-intelligence, referred to the secret world as "a wilderness of mirrors." A historian who takes on the challenge of such mysteries must try to distinguish the subject from its reflections, without obscuring either.

Spence pits the dramatic and tangled tale of Reilly's devious persona against the background of the even more dramatic events that swirled around him. Even those unfamiliar with the history of Russian revolutionaries will be fascinated by the connections that Spence reveals for the 1st time, like that between triple-agent Evno Azef, his raven-haired sister Natta and the young Salomon Rosenblum who was to be reborn as Sidney Reilly.

Though the casual reader can safely ignore it, perhaps Spence's greatest contribution to Reillyana is his meticulous documentation, so that one is never in doubt about what is fact and what is speculation extrapolated from fact. Publishers Weekly's review misses the point in denigrating Spence's scholarly ambiguity. Only fools prefer neat but unjustified certainty to untidy but logical explication.

Spence goes behind Reilly's carefully built façade of "calm, elegant, immaculate" gentleman, art and book collector, businessman with a French mistress; and even further behind Reilly's current façade of "ace of spies," to involve the reader intensely in the gritty double and triple dealings that make Reilly so intriguing to those of us who live a cleaner, if less exciting life.

Whether you are a specialist, an espionage buff or just want to follow up on the TV show, you can trust "Trust No One" to be as riveting as it is enlightening.

I bought this after watching the BBC miniseries on Sidney Reilly. Spence has produced a very scholarly book written in a friendly tone. While I still view the Ace of Spies (the series, not the man) with affection and admiration, this book demonstrates that Reilly's life was much more complex than the BBC series made out. While not wanting to give too much away, I'll just say, watch the series, then read the book.

In the end, Sidney Reilly has the last laugh. He spent a lifetime covering his tracks, weaving a trail of deception and misinformation intended to obscure every aspect of his personal history and career. Spence takes on the noble task of trying to sift through the voluminous, vague, and usually contradictory material about this character. Unfortunately, almost nothing can be said with certainty about Reilly. We are unsure of his real name, place of birth, parentage, marriages...and those are just the biographical details. His work was obviously and carefully kept clouded. The author assembles as much data as one will probably ever find on this subject. He tries to be objective. However, the end result is a compilation of information mixed with supposition and conjecture. Yet, it is doubtful if anyone could have done more than Spence given the nature of the subject. In the end, we are not even sure if Reilly died as legend holds or if he lived on in mystery. No one will ever accurately chronicle the life of this remarkable enigma wrapped in a riddle...and that is exactly how Sidney Reilly wanted things to be.

It is obvious that Richard Spence is a diligent researcher and he did a great deal of homework for this book. The result is an exhaustive (and exhausting) compilation of Sidney Reilly's activities and associations over the course of his career. Unfortunately this wealth of information is not really drawn into any themes or any kind of coherent narrative. Some of the "Reilly myths" are convincingly de-bunked, but there's not much on offer here to replace them. This might be a helpful work for the history scholar looking for names, dates, and places associated with Sidney Reilly but it isn't much fun for the armchair history buff.

Richard Spence's research is astounding in its depth. Although this is in some ways a very "scholarly" work and demands effort on the part of the reader, it's worth it. It's obvious that no easy or pat answers to the mystery of Sidney Reilly are possible....and any book that pretends otherwise is just another red herring being dangled before the gullible.

I have read every book written about Sidney Reilly ever since watching the PBS TV series. This latest book is the best researched and most accurate one written. I do not believe any additional information can be obtained that can reveal more about this remarkable spy. His movements and actions have been documented to a degree that is amazing to me since they occurred so long ago.

Dr. Spence's book kills one of the KGB sacred cows - "operation Trust" what has been considered for decades as a great success of the Soviet counter-intelligence. It puts Sydney Reilly's story in a quite new context of a fierce political struggle within Bolshevik Party and efforts of Western business community to engage Russia. Dr. Spence follows Reilly's slogan which he put as a title of his book: he does not rely completely on any of his countless sources, but he compiles them in a very convincing picture. It is a great reading for everyone who does not buy things at their face value and goes to the very depth.

Many books have been written about Sidney Reilly and his activities. Nearly all are based on hearsay or his on stories. Finally there's book about Reilly which ends all unnecessary legends around him and bring us the facts. Richard B Spence's Trust no one is without a doubt the best book that is written about the controversial man.

Trust no one is a fascinating story about a man who seemed always to be at the center of politics, espionage, clandestine business, money, power, wild love life and so on. There are so many details in the book that is nearly confusing.

Mr. Spence has used lot of new material in his book and he tells the story the way i like. He has done a great job in gathering all the facts and making them to one, logical story without the Reilly hype.

This is a must read for everybody who is interested in history or intelligence. Where are all the Reillys of today? He's sure no role model but at least he had the warrior instinct.