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The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor
by Ronald Drabkin
Book Reviewed by:In the spirit of Ben Macintyre's greatest spy nonfiction, the truly unbelievable and untold story of Frederick Rutland—a debonair British WWI hero, flying ace, fixture of Los Angeles society, and friend of Golden Age Hollywood stars—who flipped to become a spy for Japan in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Frederick Rutland was an accomplished aviator, British WWI war hero, and real-life James Bond. He was the first pilot to take off and land a plane on a ship, a decorated warrior for his feats of bravery and rescue, was trusted by the admirals of the Royal Navy, had a succession of aeronautical inventions, and designed the first modern aircraft carrier. He was perhaps the most famous early twentieth-century naval aviator.
Despite all of this, and due mostly to class politics, Rutland was not promoted in the new Royal Air Force in the wake of WWI. This ignominy led the disgruntled Rutland to become a spy for the Japanese government. Plied with riches and given a salary ten times the highest-paid admiral, shuttled between Los Angeles and Tokyo where he lived in large mansions in both Beverly Hills and Yokohama, and insinuating himself into both LA high society and Japan's high command, Rutland would go on to contribute to the Japanese navy with both strategic and technical intelligence. This included scouting trips to Pearl Harbor, investigations of military preparedness, and aircraft technology. All this while living a double life, frequenting private California clubs and hosting lavish affairs for Hollywood stars and military dignitaries in his mansion on the Los Angeles Bird Streets.
Supported by recently declassified FBI files and by incorporating unique and rare research through MI5 and Japanese Naval archives that few English speakers have access to, author Ronald Drabkin pieces together to completion, for the first time, this stranger-than-fiction story of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters of espionage history.
When it comes to espionage, not only is truth stranger than fiction, sometimes it can be downright unbelievable. Ronald Drabkin's exceptionally entertaining account of World War I hero Frederick Rutland, Beverly Hills Spy, is all the more jaw-dropping because it's entirely true. Beverly Hills Spy is a rollicking narrative of brazen spy craft, buttressed with new revelations and insights that will significantly add to studies of Pearl Harbor and WWII military intelligence...continued
Full Review
(862 words)
(Reviewed by Peggy Kurkowski).
The history of celebrities dabbling in espionage is a fascinating one. As Ronald Drabkin illustrates in Beverly Hills Spy, famous people often have opportunities to gather intelligence from high-value sources. Who would not want to socialize with a beautiful or handsome star?
One of the most audacious celebrity spies during World War II was Josephine Baker, an American-born French singer, dancer, and actress. When France declared war on Germany in September 1939, Baker was recruited by French military intelligence as an "honorable correspondent" and worked directly with the head of French counterintelligence in Paris. She attended parties at embassies, ministries, night clubs, and other social gatherings, charming German ...
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James Fallows, National Book Award–winning author of National Defense and former White House staffer
What a fascinating tale this is—of espionage, of aviation, of heroism and betrayal, of class boundaries in the US and the UK. It is a dramatic story from the pre–World War II era with resonance today.
