Carousing for the Comintern

摘要

WITH ITS clash of grand ideologies and sweeping geopolitical upheavals, the 20th century was a natural setting for espionage. The intrigues cooked up in embassies and drinking holes and secret clubhouses shaped the fates of nations, which made the work of spies of the utmost importance. And of them all, Richard Sorge may well have been the best. He was a "flawed individual, but an impeccable spy-brave, brilliant, and relentless", writes Owen Matthews in his rollicking and moving chronicle of Sorge's life.