The Spy Who Came in From the Circus

The Spy Who Came in From the CircusFor almost half a century, Bertram Mills Circus was a household name throughout Britain among both children and adults. Cyril Bertram Mills, circus director and son of the founder, was one of the best known and most influential personalities in the country's entertainment business. But for forty years, Cyril Mills also pursued a top secret, wide ranging career in British intelligence, obtaining the best aerial intelligence on Nazi rearmament for MI6;

For almost half a century, Bertram Mills Circus was a household name throughout Britain among both children and adults. Cyril Bertram Mills, circus director and son of the founder, was one of the best-known and most influential personalities in the country's entertainment business. But for forty years, Cyril Mills also pursued a top-secret, wide-ranging career in British intelligence, obtaining the best aerial intelligence on Nazi rearmament for MI6; recruiting GARBO, the best double agent of the Second World War; and working part-time during the Cold War 'for MI5 or 6 or both without being paid a penny'. Remarkably, no word of Mills's secret career appeared in public until he was over eighty. Nobody suspected that the glamorous world of the pre-war circus had been an extraordinary rehearsal for the top-secret arena of surveillance and deception. In this incredible true story, Christopher Andrew, former official historian of MI5 and bestselling author, in collaboration with ex-KGB officers, of histories of Russian intelligence, brings to life one of the most surprising and fascinating careers in British espionage.