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Book SynopsisWith Britain braced for a German invasion, MI5 recruited an ex RNAS officer, come confidence trickster, called Walter Dicketts as a double agent. Codenamed Celery, Dicketts was sent to Lisbon with the seemingly impossible mission of persuading the Germans he was a traitor and then extract crucial secrets. Once there, the Nazis spirited him off to Germany. With his life on the line, Dicketts had to outwit his interrogators in Hamburg and Berlin before returning to Britain as, in the Nazis eyes, a German spy. Despite discovering he had been betrayed as an MI5 plant before he even left for Germany, Celery somehow got back to Lisbon. After that he persuaded an Abwehr Officer to defect, and spent nine months undercover in Brazil. A mixture of hero and crook, Dicketts was worldly and intelligent, charming and charismatic. Sometimes rich and sometimes poor, his private life was a web of complexity and deception. Using family and official records, police records, newspaper articles and memories, the author unravels the tangled yet true story of Double Agent Celery.
Trade ReviewA fascinating journey into the past to uncover one of the most colourful rogues who spied for Britain. Michael Smith, bestselling author The Anatomy of a Traitor and The Secrets of Station X.; A classic recipe of wartime espionage with romance, perfidy and tragedy as added ingredients. Nigel West, bestselling author. Voted The Experts' Expert by a panel of other spy writers in The Observer in November 1989. ; The wartime double agent is one of the most indelible figures in all of literature. But there are few characters as bizarre and intriguing as the rascal who was codenamed Celery by MI5. In telling the story of her grandfather's adventures, Carolinda Witt has added a rollicking chapter to our understanding of World War II. And here's the incredible part: It's all true. Peter Duffy, bestselling author Double Agent and The Bielski Brothers.; As gripping and immersive as any spy novel. This tells the real story of agent Celery. Dr Helen Fry, author and historian The M Room: Secret Listeners who Bugged the Nazis and Spymaster The Secret Life of Kendrick; Powerful feel for the period and a sure touch generally on the techniques of spycraft. Without the Double Cross system Britain would probably have lost the Second World War. Professor Paul Moorcraft, former UK Ministry of Defence and prolific author on security issues.
