Beverly Hills Spy

The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor

By: Ronald Drabkin

Narrated by: Sam Dewhurst-Phillips

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

In the spirit of Ben Macintyre’s greatest spy nonfiction, the truly unbelievable and untold story of Frederick Rutland—a debonair British WWI hero, flying ace, fixture of Los Angeles society, and friend of Golden Age Hollywood stars—who flipped to become a spy for Japan in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Frederick Rutland was an accomplished aviator, British WWI war hero, and real-life James Bond. He was the first pilot to take off and land a plane on a ship, a decorated warrior for his feats of bravery and rescue, was trusted by the admirals of the Royal Navy, had a succession of aeronautical inventions, and designed the first modern aircraft carrier. He was perhaps the most famous early twentieth-century naval aviator.

Despite all of this, and due mostly to class politics, Rutland was not promoted in the new Royal Air Force in the wake of WWI. This ignominy led the disgruntled Rutland to become a spy for the Japanese navy. Plied with riches and given a salary ten times the highest-paid admiral, shuttled between Los Angeles and Tokyo where he lived in large mansions in both Beverly Hills and Yokohama, and insinuating himself into both LA high society and Japan’s high command, Rutland would go on to contribute to the Japanese navy with both strategic and technical intelligence. This included scouting trips to Pearl Harbor, investigations of military preparedness, and aircraft technology. All this while living a double life, frequenting private California clubs and hosting lavish affairs for Hollywood stars and military dignitaries in his mansion on the Los Angeles Bird Streets.

Supported by recently declassified FBI files and by incorporating unique and rare research through MI5 and Japanese Naval archives that few English speakers have access to, author Ronald Drabkin pieces together to completion, for the first time, this stranger-than-fiction story of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters of espionage history.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Ronald Drabkin (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

High intrigue

A true spy story spanning 40 years that, throughout, seems too extraordinary to be believed.

Great read

Very interesting story that i knew nothing about going into! Absolutely love Sam's voice 😍

Reads like fiction- but true

My wife and I both very much enjoyed Beverly Hills Spy. The book is extremely well narrated very well written it’s a gripping tail. I will fall from Grace of a military, hero, traitor, who had the last minute tried to redeem himself. If anything, the book also shows that more could’ve been done to prevent what happened at Pearl Harbor. We highly recommend this book.

This book deserves better

An outstanding account of espionage, greed, and the chaos of wartime intelligence that is unfortunately dragged down by a distracting, sometimes monotonous and other times absurd narration. I’m familiar with the narrator from a fiction series where his theatrical presentation suits the story and characters, but ‘Beverly Hills Spy’ required more seriousness and less attempts to ‘perform’ accents (the attempts at American and Japanese accents sound like parodies and are distractions from the severity of the historical events).

Frederick Rutland, the real man, is an engaging, contradictory character whose espionage efforts are immersed in class resentment and greed, and his later double-agent status is almost comical due to his desperation. This book deserves a better presentation, especially with how thorough the research and history is. Considering the incomplete nature of the FBI and UK files (as stated in the author’s notes, some files are still sealed) this is an excellent account of a man whose wounded pride led him to espionage, and historical events unfolding around him.

This book deserves your attention but not in audio format.