History's Devils
Who were the worst people in history?
HISTORY'S DEVILS is a weekly deep-dive podcast that investigates the world's most infamous historical figures. Each episode explores the life, actions, and impact of a notorious person from history, examining the facts behind their reputation and the events that shaped their legacy.
Hosted by Professor James Crossland, HISTORY'S DEVILS covers dictators, tyrants, war criminals, cult leaders, revolutionaries, con-artists, conspiracy theorists and other controversial historical figures, combining deep research with compelling storytelling to reveal the darker side of human history.
Perfect for fans of dark history, history documentaries, historical biographies, and in-depth explorations of the people who changed the world for better - or for worse.
All the devils are here. And we are ready to tell their stories.
History's Devils
"Ace of Spies" or Ultimate Grifter? Sidney Reilly and the World of British Intelligence
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This episode of HISTORY’S DEVILS delves into the life of Sidney Reilly, a dashing, semi-mythical MI6 officer who has often been referred to – without much reason – as the “Ace of Spies”. James Crossland is joined by Professor Rory Cormac (author of How to Stage a Coup, and Fakers: A Top Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries of the Disinformation Front) for a conversation that explores Reilly’s duality as both a charming spy and a deceitful grifter who worked his way into the British intelligence community whilst building side careers as an arms dealer and radium peddler, all whilst acquiring as many as four wives without ever bother to divorce one of them. Along the way, Reilly allegedly stole German war plans, tried to kill Valdimir Lenin and, in the final act of his melodramatic life, conspired with a supposedly anti-Bolshevik secret society to destroy the Soviet Union from within.
Join James and Rory for this wild ride of truths, half-truths and outright lies!
Buy James’ book:
https://eandtbooks.com/books/rogue-agent/
Buy Rory’s book:
Further Reading
Andrew Cook, Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly (History Press, 2004)
Robin Bruce Lockhart, Reilly: Ace of Spies (1967)
James Crossland, Rogue Agent: From Secret Plots of the Psychological Warfare, the Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart (Elliot & Thompson, 2024)
Keith Jeffrey, MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service, 1909-1949 (Bloomsbury, 2010)
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Sidney Reilly: The Ace of Spies
04:34 The Duality of Sidney Reilly: Hero or Villain?
08:52 Reilly's Early Life and Transformation
12:50 The Rise of a Bigamist: Sidney Reilly's Marriages
25:33 The Legend of the Ace of Spies: Myths and Reality
30:37 The Problem with Historical Sources
31:00 Reilly's War-time Activities
34:15 MI6's Role in America
35:50 The Black Tom Explosion
37:14 Reilly's Recruitment into MI6
40:21 The Bolshevik Revolution and Reilly's Role
42:14 The Lockhart Plot
46:09 Reilly's Failures in Espionage
48:04 Double-Crossing and Confusion
50:23 Reilly's Later Years and Grifting
54:08 “The Trust” and Reilly’s Final Mission
56:21 The Mysterious Death of Sidney Reilly
59:34 The Enduring Legend of the Ace of Spies
Thanks to SOULFULJAMTRACKS for their tune "Dark Halloween"
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https://jamescrossland.substack.com/
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#HistorysDevils #JamesCrossland #HistoryPodcast #Podcast #History #DarkHistory #HistoricalBiography #TrueHistory #HistoryDocumentary #Deepdive #Storytelling
History's Devils is a history podcast exploring the lives of murderers, charlatans, psychopaths, dictators, war criminals, tyrants, demagogues, revolutionaries, cult leaders, conquerors, fraudsters, and other controversial figures.
History's Devils is hosted by James Crossland, professor of international history and author of:
Rogue Agent: From Secret Plots to Psychological Warfare, the Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart
The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism...
