The Conspirators Author:Geoffrey Bailey An extraordinary story of intrigue between Russia and Western Europe during the years before WW2. — One day int he late summer of 1921, a bearded, well-dressed man alighted from the Leningrad train in Revel, capital of Estonia. His mission seemed of a strictly personal nature, involving a lady. Yet this small episode was the point of departure fo... more »r one of the most ingenious and successful undercover operations of our time, which, among other things, led to the temporary neutralization of several Western intelligence services; the capture and execution by the OGPU of two prominent anti-communist conspirators, Brosi Savinkov and Sydney Reilly; the daylight kidnapping in Paris of the White Russian general Kuryepov and Miller; and lastly, the Red Army purges of 1937-1938.
It is an extraordinary story- dramatic, mysterious, even improbable at times- and in its way, indicative of the relations between Soviet Russia and the Western powers between he two world wars. Plots, counter plots, and conspiracies were so numerous and often so disconnected as almost to defy coherent explanation. Diplomacy on the highest level was a t times inextricably merged with the crudest espionage, subversion, and terror. Individuals, organizations, even nations switched their attitudes and allegiances.
Agents and counter agents were everywhere. revolution & counter-revolution swept across Europe.
Out of this tangled web of conspiracy and intrigue, the author has recounted an amazing story ranging from Moscow to Paris and Berlin, from the early 1920's to the Great Purges of 1938. He tells of Sydney Reilly of British Intelligence, who by his own courage and daring almost upset Bolshevik rules; of the organization known as t he "Trust," which caused such havoc among Western intelligence services and the White Russian emigre movement; of the abduction of General Kutyepov from Paris and his disappearance aboard a Soviet freighter off the Normandy coast. He describes the struggle for power among the Soviet leaders and the beginnings of the reign of terror instigated by Stalin in his rise to supreme power. There is an account of the little-known "Operation Kama" by which the German Army was re-formed and re-equipped with Russian help, thus nullifying the provisions of Versailles. Finally, the author tells about the Red Army conspiracy against Stalin, involving top Russian generals, including the brilliant Marshal Tukhachevsky, and of the strange part that Hitler and the Gestapo played in this plot.« less
Very interesting book for those who like to learn about the events leading up to WW2. Not typically people one knows about. Very interesting information.