An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent

A biographical history of the USSR's most successful covert agent, An Impeccable Spy by Owen Matthews follows the life of Richard Sorge, a German by name but a Russian communist by conviction who set up spy rings for the Soviets in China and Japan during the age of Stalin and leading up to World War II. Blessed with a death-defying daring, a seductive savoir-faire, and a perfect cover, Sorge was a formidable asset in the Soviets' war against fascism - or he would have been, did not the very traits that made him so singular make him suspect to the communist regime for whom he spied.

Based on newly-declassified records, Matthews's history is as meticulously researched as it is readable. The focus is always on Sorge's character, and the chapters are drawn together through a narrative that highlights his being a kind of Soviet James Bond (alcohol, motorcycle rides, and romantic liaisons punctuate the book). Meanwhile, An Impeccable Spy consistently maintains a peripheral view of the main events of the twentieth century of which we have read and/or heard of in school, about which Sorge was able to gain vital information from his spy rings. However, for reasons established by Matthews, Stalin - who had by the years covered by the book begun his party purge, from which Sorge was spared by distance - had begun to distrust Sorge. Thus, Matthews draws on a theme common to both his nonfictional and fictional works: the incompetence of the suspicious self-cannibalism of communist bureaucracy.

I read An Impeccable Spy as part of my goal to better understand Matthews's other work, especially his historical fiction. However, a few hours into the audiobook (excellently narrated by Mike Grady), An Impeccable Spy became one of my favorites of Matthews's contributions to the scholarship on 20th-century Russia. As with his other works, I plan to recommend An Impeccable Spy to friends and students for an entertaining and well-documented look at the eastern side of the Iron Curtain.