Agent Jack

The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter

By: Robert Hutton

Narrated by: Roger Davis

"An appealing mix of accessibility and research. [Hutton] has illuminated a fascinating and often appalling side of the war at home." — Wall Street Journal

The never-before-told story of Eric Roberts, who infiltrated a network of Nazi sympathizers in Great Britain in order to protect the country from the grips of fascism.

June 1940: Europe has fallen to Adolf Hitler’s army, and Britain is his next target. Winston Churchill exhorts the country to resist the Nazis, and the nation seems to rally behind him. But in secret, some British citizens are plotting to hasten an invasion.

Agent Jack tells the incredible true story of Eric Roberts, a seemingly inconsequential bank clerk who, in the guise of “Jack King”, helped uncover and neutralize the invisible threat of fascism on British shores. Gifted with an extraordinary ability to make people trust him, Eric Roberts penetrated the Communist Party and the British Union of Fascists before playing his greatest role for MI5: Hitler's man in London. Pretending to be an agent of the Gestapo, Roberts single-handedly built a network of hundreds of British Nazi sympathizers—factory workers, office clerks, shopkeepers —who shared their secrets with him. It was work so secret and so sensitive that it was kept out of the reports MI5 sent to Winston Churchill.

In a gripping real-world thriller, Robert Hutton tells the fascinating story of an operation whose existence has only recently come to light with the opening of MI5’s World War II files. Drawing on these newly declassified documents and private family archives, Agent Jack shatters the comforting notion that Britain could never have succumbed to fascism and, consequently, that the world could never have fallen to Hitler. Agent Jack is the story of one man who loved his country so much that he risked everything to stand against a rising tide of hate.

©2019 Robert Hutton (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Capably bringing to light a forgotten World War II story, British political correspondent Hutton ... has done an impressive job assembling transcripts, letters, interviews, and declassified documents into a delicious spy story. A delightful account of World War II espionage." —Kirkus starred review

"This entertaining, detailed narrative presents a chilling portrait of England under siege." —Publishers Weekly

"Robert Hutton's deeply researched, often astounding book describes how a loose network of homegrown fascists plotted to undermine wartime Britain, and explains the ingenious way MI5 attempted to neutralise them ... Hutton includes transcripts of eavesdropped conversations with these fanatics that would make your hair stand on end." —Anthony Quinn, Guardian

interesting for sure, not what I expected

quite an interesting story. A lot of history. A lot behind the scenes. but it was long!

A real spy story.

It's a great spy thriller based on real evidence of the events. Fantastic to listen to and a warning to everyone that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things, good or bad