The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington - Jennet Conant Audiobook

Written by Jennet Conant
Read by Simon Prebble
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: HighBridge
Release date: September 9, 2008
Duration: 11:37:17

Prior to the U.S. entering WWII, a small coterie of British spies in Washington, D.C., was formed. They called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars after the band of street urchins who were the eyes and ears of Sherlock Holmes in some Arthur Conan Doyle stories. This group constituted the very beginning of what would become MI6, the British version of the CIA, and they helped support the fledgling American intelligence service, known at the time as the OSS.

Among them were writers Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, and the flamboyant Canadian industrialist turned professional saboteur William Stephenson, known by the code name “Intrepid,” upon whom Fleming would later base his fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Richly detailed and carefully researched, Conant’s narrative uses never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries, and interviews to create a fascinating, lively account of deceit, double dealing, and moral ambiguity-all in the name of victory.

“As enjoyable as Conant’s history of British spy jinks in wartime Washington is on the page, its pleasures are enhanced by Simon Prebble’s vintage British inflections. This is the voice of BBC wartime newsreels, measured and stalwart and utterly composed, and its assured syllabification never concedes to an American pronunciation. Conant’s story of classy espionage conducted in tuxedos is not only the prototype of the James Bond novels, it also includes among its many memorable characters Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, along with congressmen and socialites, columnists, and even Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Prebble’s narration is point-counterpoint for the polished comedy of Conant’s true-life tale, refining the farcical nature of much of the story, while giving a wink to the whole proceedings. Highly recommended.”— AudioFile