Impeccable Spy

The most detailed biography of Richard Sorge, written by Owen Matthews, stands out favorably from the vast literature about him available until now. Firstly, the author utilizes the widest range of sources, and secondly, he skillfully constructs an incredibly intriguing narrative, within which no traits and episodes of the life of a character somewhat resembling James Bond, but overall a rather unsympathetic hero — “an intellectual snob, whose natural environment was the casinos, brothels, and dance halls of pre-war Shanghai and Tokyo” — are overshadowed.