The Secret War Against Red Russia: The Daring Exploits of Paul Dukes and Augustus Agar VC During the Russian Civil War
Imported Edition - Ships in 12-14 Days
Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500
Imported Edition - Ships in 12-14 Days
Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500
The Armistice of November 1918 ended four years of slaughter that left armies exhausted and populations weary of war - but the fighting was not over. In Russia, civil war and revolution had divided the nation and the Allies sought to intervene on behalf of the 'White' Russians against the Bolsheviks and this conflict continued long after the war had finished elsewhere in Europe.
A vital source of information from inside the Bolshevik-held territory came from British secret agents in Petrograd, the main one being Paul Dukes. Known as the 'Man of a Hundred Faces', Dukes had managed to infiltrate both the Communist Party and the political police. The problem which faced the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, Maurice Smith-Cummings, was getting Dukes' information back to London. Carrying information overland was proving far too problematical, so Smith-Cummings hit upon the idea of using one of the Royal Navy's new fast Coastal Motor Boat which was revealed just before the end of the war.
He recruited Lieutenant Augustus Agar and through him he found five men, all unmarried, who could handle the two CMBs. Using an inlet on the Finnish coast as a base, Agar slipped past a series of forts, submerged breakwaters and the Russian Baltic Fleet to reach Petrograd and made contact with Dukes. A frequent courier service was soon established, with Agar carrying couriers in and out of Petrograd under the very noses of the Russians.
So confident did Agar become, he even torpedoed the Russian cruiser Oleg. He followed this with support from Admiral Sir Walter Cowan in an all-out raid upon the Russian ships with eight larger CMBs and a bombing raid by the RAF. The raid resulted in the sinking of two battleships and the submarine depot ship Pamiet Azova.
Agar was quietly given the Victoria Cross but told not to publish his memoirs until 1963. As for Paul Dukes, his cover was eventually blown, and he had to escape via Latvia in a number of hair-raising escapades. In 1920 he was knighted by King George V, who called Dukes the 'greatest of all soldiers'. To this day, Dukes is the only person knighted based entirely on his exploits in espionage.
This is their remarkable story.
Best, Brian: - BRIAN BEST has an honors degree in South African History and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He was the founder of the Victoria Cross Society in 2002 and edits its Journal. He also lectures about the Victoria Cross and war art.
• Author(s): Clear | James • Publisher: Penguin • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Random House • Subject: General Books
• Author(s): Jeff Kinney • Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Random House Children's UK • BISAC: Comics & Graphic Novels - Humorous
• Author(s): Ichiro Kishimi • Publisher: GROVE ATLANTIC • Publisher Imprint: Allen & Unwin • BISAC: Personal Growth - SuccessIchiro Kishimi lives in Kyoto. He writes, lectures and teaches in psychiatric clinics as a certified counsellor and c...
View full details• Author(s): Chetan Bhagat • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India • Publisher Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers India • BISAC: GeneralFrom India's top-selling writer Chetan Bhagat comes a powerful new love story that will make you laugh, cry...
View full details• Author(s): Brianna Wiest • Publisher: Manjul Publishing • Publisher Imprint: Amaryllis • BISAC: Body Mind And SpiritThis is a book about self-sabotage. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Coexisting but conflicting n...
View full details• Author(s): Morgan Housel • Publisher: Pan Macmillan • Publisher Imprint: Pan Macmillan • BISAC: Finance - Wealth ManagementA third book from the International bestselling author of The Psychology of Money and Same as Ever, lessons on harnessing...
View full details• Author(s): Arundhati Roy• Publisher: PRH INDIA LOCAL PRINT• Publisher Imprint: Penguin Hamish Hamilton• BISAC: Literary FiguresArundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, this is a soaring account, both intimate and inspiring, of how the author became...
View full details• Author(s): Acharya Prashant • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India • Publisher Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers India • BISAC: GeneralIn a world where vagueness is mistaken for depth and obscurity passes for wisdom, Truth without Apology ...
View full details• Author(s): Sudha Murthy • Publisher: India Puffin • Publisher Imprint: India Puffin • BISAC: Short StoriesWho can resist a good story, especially when it's being told by Grandma? From her bag emerges tales of kings and cheats, monkeys and mic...
View full details• Author(s): Satoshi Yagisawa • Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd • Publisher Imprint: Bonnier Books Ltd
• Author(s): Newport, Cal • Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group • Publisher Imprint: Piatkus
• Author(s): Shrijeet Shandilya • Publisher: Ebury Press • Publisher Imprint: Ebury Press • BISAC: Romance - GeneralIn the electric haze of college life, three friends are bound by laughter, late-night talks and unspoken promises. But when two of...
View full details• Author(s): Dan Brown • Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd • Publisher Imprint: Transworld Publishers Ltd • BISAC: Thrillers - EspionageDan Brown is the bestselling author of Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci C...
View full details• Author(s): Sudha Murty • Publisher: India Puffin • Publisher Imprint: India Puffin • BISAC: Action & Adventure - General
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
• Publisher: Penguin • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Random House • Subject: General Books • BISAC: Personal Finance - GeneralApril of 2022 marks a 25-year milestone for the personal finance classic Rich Dad Poor Dad that still ranks as the #1 Pers...
View full details• Author(s): Dale Carnegie | Napoleon Hill • Publisher: Fingerprint • Publisher Imprint: Fingerprint • Subject: General Books
• Author(s): Freida Mcfadden • Publisher: Penguin Select Print • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Select Publishing"Multi-Million Copy Bestselling Series •Now Being Made Into a Major Motion Picture Starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried #1 New Yor...
View full details• Author(s): Wonder House Books • Publisher: Wonder House Books • Publisher Imprint: Wonder House Books • BISAC: Comics & Graphic Novels - Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends & MTimeless Wisdom, Talking Animals & Life Lessons for Young Min...
View full details• Author(s): Viktor E. Frankl • Publisher: Random House • Publisher Imprint: Random Hou • Subject: Medical, Nursing and Health Sciences
• Author(s): Madhavi Bharadwaj • Publisher: PRH India • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Ebury Press • BISAC: Parenting - MotherhoodWelcome to the wild, messy, wonderful world of parenting--where the nights are long, the diapers are explosive, and unso...
View full details• Author(s): Vir Das • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India • Publisher Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers India • BISAC: Entertainment & Performing ArtsComedian and actor Vir Das is beloved (by some, tolerated by others, blocked by a few...
View full details• Author(s): Eric Carle • Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK) • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Books, Limited (UK) • BISAC: Animals - Butterflies, Moths & CaterpillarsEric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a perennial favourite with child...
View full details• Author(s): Prajakta Koli • Publisher: Harper Fiction India • Publisher Imprint: Harper Fiction India • BISAC: Romance - ContemporaryWinner of the Amazon India Popular Choice Debut Book 2025 Award. From one of India's most-loved creators comes s...
View full details