They travel from London to the South of France, across the Mediterranean to Cairo before battling, against impossible odds, a private army of professional killers.

    Two quotes illustrate this. The 1st is by Larry Collins, 'Richard Sorge's brilliant espionage work saved Stalin & the Soviet Union from defeat in the fall of 1941, probably prevented a Nazi victory in WWII & thereby assured the dimensions of the world we live in today.' The 2nd is by Frederick Forsyth, 'The spies in history who can say from their graves, the information I supplied to my masters, for better or worse, altered the history of our planet, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Richard Sorge was in that group.' Masquerading as a Nazi journalist, Richard Sorge worked undetected as head of a Red Army spy ring until he was arrested & executed in Japan during the WWII. Such an astonishing story as his is bound to attract attention but not only was this the 1st book to offer an authoritative account, it has, in many ways, not least in the quality of its writing, never been superseded. The authors rejected legend & found facts that were even stranger. They provide an account as reliable as it's enthralling of possibly the most successful spy who ever operated; a man who for eight years transmitted from Japan a continuous stream of valuable information, often derived from the highest quarters, culminating in precise advance information of Hitler's invasion of Russia, of Japan's decision not to attack Russia in '41 & of the near certainty of war against America that October or November instead. Jointly written books sometimes jar, but not this one. The authors had complementary skills, F.W. Deakin being an authority on 20th-century European history & G.R. Storry no less of an authority on 20th-century Japan. Together they do justice to 'the man whom I regard as the most formidable spy in history,'--Ian Fleming (edited)

    Follow him as he embarks on the most dangerous mission of his career — to ravish his way through hundreds of pretty girls at the lair of a madman. Thus might the world be saved by — Our Man From SADISTOCovert art by Robert Bonfils.