Synopses & Reviews
The untold story of an enigmatic genius who changed warfare foreverIn the World War II era, Geoffrey Pyke was described as one of the worldand#8217;s great mindsand#151;to rank alongside Einstein. Pyke was an inventor, adventurer, polymath, and unlikely hero of both world wars. He earned a fortune on the stock market, founded an influential pre-school, wrote a bestseller, and came up with the idea for the US and Canadian Special Forces. In 1942, he convinced Winston Churchill to build an aircraft carrier out of reinforced ice.
Pyke escaped from a German WWI prison camp, devised an ingenious plan to help the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, and launched a private attempt to avert the outbreak of the Second World War by sending into Nazi Germany a group
of pollsters disguised as golfers.
And he may have been a Russian spy.
In 2009, long after Pykeand#8217;s death, MI5 released a mass of material suggesting that Pyke was in fact a senior official in the Soviet Comintern. In 1951, papers relating to Pyke were found in the flat of and#147;Cambridge Spyand#8221; Guy Burgess after his defection to Moscow. MI5 had and#147;watchersand#8221; follow Pyke through the bombed-out streets of London, his letters were opened, and listening devices picked up clues to his real identity. Convinced he was a Soviet agent codenamed Professor P, MI5 helped to bring his career to an end.
Henry Hemming is the first reporter to sift through this extraordinary new information and finally tell Pykeand#8217;s astonishing story in full: his brilliance, his flaws, and his life of adventures, ideas, and secrets.
Review
and#147;It is as if [Geoffrey Pyke] had been invented by G. K. Chesterton and given posthumous fame by John le Carrand#233; - which underlines the extraordinary accomplishment of his actual biographer Henry Hemming.and#8221;and#151;
Sir Michael Holroydand#147;Reads wonderfully like an adventure storyand#133;Hemmingand#133;turn[s] the story of a nerdish chameleon into a page-turner.and#8221;and#151;Guardian
and#147;[Pykeand#8217;s] was not a lucky life but, in his biographer, he has gained a little bit of posthumous luck. This admirable and thoroughly enjoyable book should rescue a weirdly original and innovative talent from oblivion.and#8221;and#151;The Sunday Times (London)
"Well-writtenand#133;throws fascinating light on a forgotten hero of the Second World War."and#151;The Independent (UK)
and#147;[A] masterful biographyand#133;Hemmingand#8217;s superlative text is nearly as nimble as Pykeand#8217;s mind, and he reveals who this remarkable innovator really was.and#8221;and#151;Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
and#147;An unlikely tale of true espionageand#133; Fans of Graham Greene and Alan Furst will revel in this well-told true-life story.and#8221;and#151;Kirkus Reviews
and#147;Biographer Henry Hemming makes Geoffrey Pyke a fascinating object of study.and#8221;and#151;Columbus Post Dispatch
and#147;The Ingenious Mr. Pyke is the brilliant biography of an audacious intellect.and#8221;and#151;Christian Science Monitor
"Hemming reveals Pyke as a classic eccentric genius...in all of his marvelous eccentricities. ...However improbable it seems, Hemmingand#8217;s book is impeccably researched, and remarkably intriguing, a satisfying read."and#151;Daily News of Galveston County
About the Author
Henry Hemming is the author of four works of non-fiction and#150;
Together, In Search of the English Eccentric, Misadventure in the Middle East and a monograph on the artist Abdulnasser Gharem and#150; and has co-authored the visual books
Edge of Arabia and
Offscreen.
He has written for The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Times, The Economist, FT Magazine and The Washington Post and has given interviews on Radio 4's Today Programme and NBC's Today Show and spoken at schools, festivals and companies including RDF Media, The RSA, Science Museum, Frontline Club, The School of Life, Port Eliot Literary Festival and Canvas8, where he is a Thought Leader.
He lives in London with his wife and daughter.