Beverly Hills Spy
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- $26.99
Publisher Description
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 navy. 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.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With old-world Hollywood flair, espionage historian Ronald Drabkin unpacks the true story of a Beverly Hills spy. British officer Frederick Rutland, famed for his World War I heroics, saw a once-promising military career stymied by class bias and his personal indiscretions. After he sold his technical expertise to the Japanese in the 1930s, they co-opted him as an espionage asset and set him up in Los Angeles to gather information before the start of World War II. Using newly declassified documents, Drabkin fills out the picture of a spy network that included Charlie Chaplin’s personal assistant. The haphazard, almost comical nature of real-life espionage jumps out—Rutland was revealed as a threat after a Japanese agent was found passed out drunk while carrying sensitive documents. It’s equally astounding to see how bureaucratic ineptness, particularly by the FBI and Britain’s MI5, contributed to the “surprise” attack at Pearl Harbor. The commanding voice of narrator Sam Dewhurst-Phillips echoes the radio adventure serials that filled the airwaves at the time. This is a fascinating look at small moves that ultimately left a huge historic footprint.
