M: MI5's First Spymaster

'The Amazing True Story of The Real M', William Melville, MI5's founding father and the inspiration for Ian Fleming's character in James Bond. Melville was the son of a publican in rural Ireland who came to London when it was the hub of the Empire and worked his way through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police. As the most famous detective in England and Head of Scotland Yard's Special Branch, he retired at the start of the new century and disappeared from public view. The enduring achievement of his life lay ahead - to transfer the ethos and practices of detection to the War Office, its spies and agents all over the world. He died in 1918, and 80 years passed before his true significance as MI5's first spymaster became apparent. Melville was perfect for the job, a velvet-gloved hardman whose career would take in Britain's first great terrorist outrages. He is one of the most influential counter-espionage figures of the 20th century. Now with the help of recently declassified records, family material and documents that have still not officially seen the light of day, the story of his Secret Service career can finally be told. Dame Stella Rimington called the book 'a brilliant research' and has paid tribute to the founding fathers of the Service and publicly acknowledged Melville's role who, from a small secret office in London's Victoria Street, determinedly lobbied the government to create an effective counter-intelligence service. He talked to kings and murderers, con men and wily diplomats: he had a way of getting what he wanted from them all, and in his day was a master of detection. He had a devious mind and a bleakly humorous view of humanity, and because he understood the motive of the criminal or the desperate, he was able to pioneer methods and tactics that still work, today improved by advanced technology. Paperback, 318 pages.