In a memoir published six years after his death, Reilly gave an account his earlier adventures in Bolshevik Russia.
Many details of his life remain matters of conjecture a century on, not least his real name. But it is generally accepted that the Russian-born British intelligence agent who called himself Sidney Reilly met his end 100 years ago this week, in a forest outside Moscow.
“Reilly, Ace of Spies”, as he was soon known in the popular press, had returned to Russia to join anti-communist forces in plotting another uprising against the Bolsheviks, his earlier plot to assassinate Lenin and spark a coup having failed.
Unfortunately for him, some of the “White Russian” allies who helped smuggle him back in were agents of the Soviet secret police.
Soon after crossing the border from F
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