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The Spy in the Tower

The Untold Story of Josef Jakobs, the Last Person to be Executed at the Tower of London

Giselle K Jakobs
Josef Jakob’s espionage mission for the Abwehr saw him parachuted into a Huntingdonshire field, but after breaking his ankle on landing he was apprehended. His granddaughter argues that his trial and 1941 execution by firing squad raises questions about the efficacy and morality of the Double Cross system, whereby the British Security Service, now MI5, used promises and threats to break or turn enemy agents. 
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Product information:
  • Publisher: History Press
  • Year: 2019
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 448pp
  • Illustrated: Yes
  • Dimensions: 240x162mm
  • ISBN: 9780750989305
  • Condition: New
  • Weight: 0.8kg
Product code:
519887
Product information
Full publisher description
A family man who ran afoul of the Nazis, Josef Jakobs was ill-prepared for an espionage mission to England. Captured by the Home Guard after breaking his ankle, Josef was interrogated at Camp 020, before being prosecuted under the Treachery Act 1940 and executed on 15 August 1941. An open and shut case? MI5's files suggest otherwise. Faced with the threat of a German invasion in 1940/41, MI5 used promises and threats to break enemy agents, extract intelligence and turn some into double agents, challenging the validity of the 'voluntary' confessions used to prosecute captured spies. But, more than that - was Josef set up to fail? Was he a sacrifice to test the double-cross system? The Spy in the Tower tells the untold story of one of Nazi Germany's failed agents, and calls into question the legitimacy of Britain's wartime espionage trials and the success of its double-cross system.
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