Buying Options

Read for Free

OR

Kindle Price: $3.99

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Reilly: Ace of Spies by [Robin Bruce Lockhart]

Follow the Author

Robin Bruce Lockhart

Reilly: Ace of Spies Kindle Edition

by Robin Bruce Lockhart (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

117 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$3.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$24.92

—

$16.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$13.81

$10.02

$8.61

Kindle
$0.00 Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 3 million more titles $3.99 to buy
Hardcover
$24.92

8 Used from $16.00 1 Collectible from $82.89
Paperback
$13.81

3 Used from $8.61 15 New from $10.02

Reilly: Ace of Spies - the first modern secret agent, the model for James Bond and the dominating figure in the mythology of British Espionage.

Born in Russia in 1873, the man who became known as Sidney Reilly was raised as the son of middle-class Russian parents. But, while a student in Vienna, he learned that his father was in fact a Jewish doctor who had cared for his mother. In shock, he fled from Russia to Brazil. After working in bars, on boats and once as a doorman in a brothel, with an early display of courage and intelligence he saved the lives of two British explorers in the Brazilian jungle. They took him back with them to England, where he settled in London.

His immense charisma took him into the epicentre of metropolitan life, where he drew the attention of the British Secret Services. He adopted British identity, from Sigismund Rosenblum to Sidney Reilly, and so embarked on his career as a spy.

Robin Bruce Lockhart – whose father RH Bruce Lockhart was also a master spy and had worked with Reilly during the Russian revolution – recounts Reilly’s astonishing life. Written in a vivid, engaging style, this is surely one of the most thrilling life stories in history.

Reilly: Ace of Spies was adapted into a BAFTA-winning television series in 1983, starring Sam Neill as Reilly and Ian Charleson as RH Bruce Lockhart. Originally published in 1967, this edition has a foreword by Dugald Bruce Lockhart, the author’s great-nephew. Dugald is a successful actor and the author of a novel, The Lizard, published in 2020 to excellent reviews.

Praise for Reilly: Ace of Spies:

‘Reilly: Ace of Spies is the astonishing story of Sidney Reilly, perhaps the most flamboyant and mysterious British spy of all times’ – Sunday Telegraph

‘so bizarre as to seem incredible’ - Daily Telegraph

‘an absorbing and suspenseful mystery story’ - Publishers Weekly

Robin Bruce Lockhart was born in 1920, the only son of British spy RH Bruce Lockhart and was educated at Eagle House School and the Royal Naval College. He pursued a career in journalism, later becoming a stockbroker. In 1967 he published Reilly: Ace of Spies, and died in 2008, leaving one daughter by his first marriage.

Print length

223 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

April 21, 2021
File size

2281 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Andrew Cook
180
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99
Sidney Reilly
21
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $3.99
R. H. Bruce Lockhart
68
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $3.99
Benny Morris
18
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $19.99
Jim Popkin
302
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $14.99

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0937K5TNW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lume Books (April 21, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 21, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2281 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 223 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #695,645 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,074 in Biographies of Political Leaders
- #1,121 in 20th Century World History
- #4,491 in Political Leader Biographies

Customer Reviews:
117 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Robin Bruce Lockhart

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

117 global ratings

5 star		48%
4 star		29%
3 star		17%
2 star		5%
1 star		2%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Lumdor

Great book about an interesting person

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

Arrived quickly. Packaged well for shipping. A great read!

Helpful

John P Rossi

Great Story about the "Top British Spy," but Most of It Is Not True

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

I entered into the world of Sidney Reilly and British intelligence from the 1890s to the early 1920s through A&E's series, REILLY: ACE OF SPIES (DVD and often streamed). Fascinated, I wanted to learn more and purchased Robin Bruce Lockhart's REILLY: ACE OF SPIES, on which the A&E series is based. Lockhart's book is a wonderful story, splendidly written, and very entertaining, about the "British" spy, Sidney Reilly, who was one of the secret agents that Ian Fleming used as a model for James Bond. Lockhart's father worked with Reilly in Russia during the Revolution and when Reilly visited the family home, Lockhart informed his son that the man was the greatest of Britain's spies. The younger Lockhart based his book on his father's stories, interviews with other members of Britain's intelligence service who worked with Reilly (Lockhart junior worked in Britain's M.I.5 during World War II), and government documents. Most British intelligence files, however, were closed when Lockhart published his book on Reilly (1967), and the author admits that he was unable to tell the complete story on Reilly because of this. Nonetheless, REILLY: ACE OF SPIES is a wonderful read.
The problem with Lockhart's book is that Reilly was a first-rate con artist who managed to deceive, at least for some of the time, many in Britain's foreign intelligence organization about his accomplishments in espionage.
Andrew Cook thoroughly documents many of Reilly's deceptions in ACE OF SPIES: THE TRUE STORY OF SIDNEY REILLY. Cook exhaustively researched Reilly's claimed intelligence coup's and debunks many of them. Nonetheless, Cook offers an fascinating account of Reilly and his activities - which included a bevy of mistresses and wives and several bigamous marriages.
While I enjoyed THE TRUE STORY OFF SIDNEY REILLY, some sections of the book get bogged down in the details of which author argued what about Reilly, and how Cook provides the truer version of the what happened. As I historian I could appreciate Cook's historiographic twists and turns, and his explanations regarding the use of evidence. The general reader might be put off by these parts of the book, but it is easy enough to skip them and move on to its more lucidly written and entertaining parts.
My advice to those interested in the subject is to read Lockhart first and, if you still want to find out, more or less, the truth of matter, read THE TRUE STORY OFF SIDNEY REILLY (Cook points out that it is very difficult to truly know Reilly).

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

James

Probably the best place to start - just don't stop with this one.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 29, 2016

Verified Purchase

I read this one years ago and recently bought this copy to keep as a reference. It was my first exposure to the name of Sidney Reilly. If I remember correctly, Lockhart is the son of one of Reilly's co-workers and wrote the stories as told to him by his father. Comparing this one to the others I've been reading recently; I would definitely have to say that this one is somewhat of a hagiography.

Having said that, I still think it is probably the best place to start. Start with the legend and then delve into the research. I like Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly by Richard Spence (http://www.amazon.com/Trust-No-One-Secret-Sidney/dp/0922915792/ref=pd_cp_14_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Q65J0HDV7T9B61E4XCW) very much. He, like me, started out with this book. Unlike me, he spent the next couple of decades doing the researching and deducing. Start with this one and then read his.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tim

Good book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 19, 2022

Rielly was an Ace

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

The story is told without embellishments but beautifully told in a non emotional way . Far too many pages than I personally would have liked about the entrapment of Reilly by The Trust and the various theories about what happened to him for my personal liking and not enough detail about his earlier exploits against the Germans. I thought the BBC production of Reilly Ace of Spies was about the best series that the BBC has ever done and maybe this book just gives the bones without the BBC romance . Great read !!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Terry

Style of writing

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Older English style. Somewhat dry. Dated. Don't expect James Bond. Perhaps a good read if you enjoy this style.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Bev Thompson

Russia During WWI

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

I wish I had known before I purchased the book that it was all about Russia and the Bolsheviks. It takes place before and during WWI, when the Bolsheviks were in power in Russia. Reilly, the "ace", was a Russian who hated the Bolsheviks and was determined to convince the White Russians to overthrow them. This is not my kind of book at all, so I could not give it more than 2 stars. Frankly, we got tired of reading it, with Reilly constantly traveling from England to Russia -- until finally he was caught and executed. There are MANY characters in this book, and it is impossible to follow them all. I can't recommend it.

Helpful

Dennis O'Connell

Review is for the seller

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

Compared to another book on Reilly that was rated "very good" also, this one smelled old, was yellowed

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Mike B

Average

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

I have always remembered the TV series broadcast back in the 1980s, and have recently revisited them on YouTube. I bought this book to get some more background on Reilly and to see how far the TV series reflected actual events. I have to say I was somewhat disappointed, as the earlier episodes in Reilly's life are skated over in the book, and in fact there is more detail (albeit possibly conjecture) in the TV series.

A lot of the book is devoted to the events around the Bolshevik Revolution and afterwards, and here there is a lot of detail - so much in fact, that it was hard to really engage and understand the complex relationships between the various Russian exiles. Added to this is the fact that Reilly's eventual demise is very hazy - no-one really knows what happened to him in 1925, although the TV series presently the most likely outcome in a very powerful scheme. In the book, having struggled through the complexities of post revolutionary Russian politics, it is a disappointment to end with a question mark!

2 people found this helpful

RV

Astonishing but disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 26, 2011

Verified Purchase

I saw Reilly, Ace of Spies, on TV some time ago and have been looking forward to reading the book. However, I am finding it a disappointing read. Reilly's exploits make fascinating reading, but Bruce Lockhart has packed them together as though he was filling a small suitcase for a long journey. Names, both English and Foreign, are thrown about like confetti, which means constant flicking backwards and forwards through the pages. An index containing a Who's Who would have been a useful addition.

4 people found this helpful

P. B. MACHIN

Reilly WAS the ace of Spies!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is an amazing story echoing the terrific film of the same name and worth getting the dvd set to watch it enacted on screen!

One person found this helpful

ethel hillier

An interesting book about British involvement in the Russian revolution

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

Interestingly written and full of information. Clear description of the character of Reilly. It gets a bit tedious towards the end but a good read

Amazon Customer

A former best-seller which

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have wanted this book for a long time, being a fan of the TV series and it has not disappointed. The book was precisely as described and arrived promptly and well packed. It was ridiculously low priced and I was amazed that it was still available. It is a fascinating story of the early days of the Secret Services and the questionnable characters employed.

Buying Options

OR

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the Author

Reilly: Ace of Spies Kindle Edition

Praise for Reilly: Ace of Spies:

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product details

Videos

About the author

Robin Bruce Lockhart

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries