• The Mysterious Mata Hari

    More of a legend than a success, she continues to intrigue the public

  • Russian Spies

    Rudolf Abel and Konon Molody and Soviet Intelligence Officers

  • Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

    Leaving the U.S. Court House after being found guilty

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Welcome to HistoryofSpies.com

One of the first and most respected web sites focusing on the intriguing world of espionage. Browse through profiles of the greatest spies, missions and events in history.

Spies

Take a look at some of the major spies over the last 300 years. These men and women have altered wars and brokered peace, often hidden from the view of the public.

Events

These are the major events int eh world of espionage, from spy rings, scandals and missions to the great escapes upon which imaginative fiction is based.

Spycraft

Crucial to the success of spy missions is the tools of the trade to pass and conceal information.

Major Spies

Agnes Smedley

American journalist who spied for the Soviet Union against the Japanese.
December 16, 2014/by mlong43

Alan Nunn May

British physicist who passed atomic secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1940s.
March 16, 2015/by

Aldrich Ames

CIA counter-intelligence officer convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.
March 16, 2015/by mlong43

Alfred Redl

Austrian head of counter-intelligence blackmailed by Russia into passing secrets.
March 16, 2015/by mlong43

Alger Hiss

U.S. State Department official accused committing espionage for the Soviet Union.
March 16, 2015/by mlong43

Anthony Blunt

Noted British art historian who acted the Soviet recruiter of a number of British spies.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Carl Lody

Reserve Officer of the Imperial German Navy who spied on England during World War I.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Christine Granville

British SOE known for her daring exploits in intelligence and sabotage missions.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Clayton Lonetree

A United States Marine coerced into passing secrets to the Soviet Union.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Clyde Conrad

U.S. Army Sgt. who passed top secret information to Hungary & Czechoslovakia.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Donald Maclean

British diplomat who spied for the Soviet Union as part of the Cambridge Five.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Earl Pitts

Former FBI Special Agent who worked as a mole for the Soviet Union.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Ethel Rosenberg

American communist executed for espionage against the United States.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Feliks Dzerzhinsky

Established and directed the Bolshevik Secret Police, the CHEKA.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Franz Von Papen

German spymaster assigned to disrupt U.S. - British communications.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

George Blake

British spy who worked as a double-agent for the Soviet Union.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Gordon Lonsdale

Soviet intelligence officer who headed the Portland spy ring in the United States
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Hans Oster

German Army general who built a resistance organization against the Nazis.
March 17, 2015/by mlong43

Harold Nicholson

Among the highest ranking CIA officers ever convicted of spying for the Russians.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Herbert Yardley

American cryptologist who wrote the expose "The American Black Chamber."
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Igor Gouzenko

Soviet cipher clerk who defected to Canada, turning over Soviet secrets.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

James Jesus Angleton

Head of Counter-Intelligence for the CIA and a noted mole-hunter.
March 16, 2015/by mlong43

John Cairncross

British intelligence officer who passed secrets to the Soviet Union.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

John Walker

U.S. military communications specialist who ran a Soviet family spy ring.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Jonathan Pollard

American Naval Intelligence analyst who provided Top Secret Classified information to Israel.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Josephine Baker

American-born entertainer who spied for France against the Nazis.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Judith Coplon

Soviet agent who passed information about American counter-intelligence.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Julius Rosenberg

American-born Soviet recruiter who obtained and passed military secrets to the Soviets.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Kim Philby

High-ranking member of British intelligence spied for the Soviet Union.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Klaus Fuchs

German-born British theoretical physicist and who passed Manhattan project secrets to the Soviets.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Lionel “Buster” Crabb

British Royal Navy diver assigned to missions against the Soviet Union.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Lavrentiy Beria

Beria, Lavrentiy Chief of the NKVD and the head of the great Soviet purge.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Noor Inayat Khan

British SOE agent who worked with the French Resistance against Nazi Germany.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Nelson Drummond

U.S. Navy Yeoman blackmailed in spying for the Soviets, the first Black American ever convicted of espionage.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Marthe Richard

A former prostitute who spied for France against Germany and later became a politician.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Mata Hari

A Dutch exotic dancer who worked as a double-agent for France and Germany.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Morris Childs

An America-born Soviet spy who later became a double agent for the US.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Morris “Two-Gun” Cohen

London-born adventurer who arranged counter-intelligence for China.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Oleg Penkovsky

Soviet colonel who exposed the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Paul Dukes

MI6 officer assigned to spy on Russia utilizing assorted disguises.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Richard Miller

First FBI agent ever convicted of espionage for passing secrets to Soviet KGB agents.
March 18, 2015/by mlong43

Richard Sorge

Soviet military intelligence officer who ran a spy ring against the Japanese.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Robert Hanssen

American FBI agent who passed information to Soviet intelligence.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Roger Hollis

Director General of MI5 who was later accused of being a Soviet agent.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Ronald Pelton

American spy convicted of passing NSA signals intelligence information to the KGB.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Ruth Kuczynski

German-born Soviet spy who passed atomic secrets and operated a spy ring in China.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Rudolf Abel

Notorious British-raised Soviet Cold War spy swapped for U-2 pilot.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Rudolf Roessler

Head of the Soviet anti-Nazi Lucy espionage ring that spied on Germany.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Sandor Rado

Hungarian cartographer who spied on the Nazis for the Soviet Union.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Sidney Reilly

Russian-born British spy known for his daring exploits and escapes.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Ted Hall

American physicist and a Manhattan project spy for the Soviet Union.
March 19, 2015/by mlong43

Velvalee Dickinson

American businesswoman who passed U.S. Naval secrets to the Japanese.
March 20, 2015/by mlong43

Vernon Kell

Founder and first Director General of the British Security Service (MI5).
March 20, 2015/by mlong43

Violette Szabo

SOE operative who reconstituted a French Resistance network.
March 20, 2015/by mlong43

Whittaker Chambers

Former Soviet spy who later exposed other Soviet spies in the US.
March 20, 2015/by mlong43

Major Events

Spy Rings

From the Atomic Spy Ring to the Cambridge Spy Ring, spy rings have made the greatest impact on nations and in undermining governments. These are the greatest and most infamous spy rings in the history of espionage.
December 30, 2017/by mlong43

Scandals

History has been filled with governments and industries rocked and toppled by scandals linked to espionage. From the Profumo Affair to The Guillaume Affair, these are the scandals which came to change the balance of power the world over.
December 30, 2017/by mlong43

Spy Missions

From Operation Gold to the Great Seal Bug, these are the daring clandestine missions that affected the course of history in the world of espionage
December 30, 2017/by mlong43

Great Escapes

From the Sidney Reilly to George Blake, these are some of the greatest escape in espionage history.
December 30, 2017/by mlong43