The General was a Spy: The Truth About General Gehlen and His Spy Ring

by Heinz Höhne, Hermann Zolling, Hugh Trevor-Roper (Introduction)

The sensational story of General Gehlen and his spy ring. Head of the German Army's eastern intelligence services until dismissed by Hitler, he survived to transfer his allegiance to the American CIA as their Central European expert and to become head of the West German Secret Service.

From the twilight world of international espionage emerge the dummy firms, the safe houses, the dead-letter boxes, the couriers, call-girls, interrogators, radio monitors and the men who parachute into the night - and disappear.

Genres: World War II, Germany, History, Espionage, Biography

347 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine Dr. Strangelove as a spymaster. What if I told you that American foreign policy towards the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the post-war years was based on intelligence provided by a Nazi spy chief whom Hitler personally picked to collect German intelligence on the Eastern Front? Crazy, right? Wrong. Reinhard Gehlen proved a genius at gathering information from the Russians after 1941. (A favorite trick was going through the garbage of Red Army forward camps. Gehlen knew Soviet troops were always issued extra bottles of vodka just before an offensive.) After wisely surrendering to the Americans in 1945 the CIA recruited Gehlen to resume his old role on its payroll. Shortly after that he was made chief of West German intelligence. Gehlen protected his own, and the Federal Republic's espionage service was never purged of ex-Nazis; instead, they got promoted! Suggested co-reading: the memoirs of East German intel, meister Markus Wolfe.

[Binston Birchill · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the Nazi Spymaster who maneuvered his way into being the number 1 source of Russian Intelligence for post-WWII America. He was sought out, protected and ultimately put in charge of the independent (yes, independent) German Spy Agency, and played a role in ramping up the tensions between Moscow and Washington. He got away with it simply because the U.S. was caught completely unprepared for their new war, the Cold War. A very interesting story but in the end, I have to agree with the previous reviewers, a very informative read but it's as dry as a popcorn fart (likely due to the translation).

[R.c. Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dry prose (due to translation) but a wealth of information

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was written initially in German; The english prose, the result of translation, is dry and difficult. Still, just about the best book on Reinhard Gehlen.