Into the Lion's Mouth

The True Story of Dusko Popov: Word War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond

By: Larry Loftis

Narrated by: Eric G. Dove

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

James Bond has nothing on Dusko Popov. A double agent for the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI during World War II, Popov seduced numerous women, spoke five languages, and was a crack shot, all while maintaining his cover as a Yugoslavian diplomat....

On a cool August evening in 1941, a Serbian playboy created a stir at Casino Estoril in Portugal by throwing down an outrageously large baccarat bet to humiliate his opponent. The Serbian was a British double agent, and the money - which he had just stolen from the Germans - belonged to the British. From the sideline, watching with intent interest, was none other than Ian Fleming.

The Serbian was Dusko Popov. As a youngster he had been expelled from his London prep school. Years later he would be arrested and banished from Germany for making derogatory statements about the Third Reich. When World War II ensued, the playboy became a spy, eventually serving three dangerous masters: the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI.

On August 10, 1941, the Germans sent Popov to the United States to construct a spy network and gather information on Pearl Harbor. The FBI ignored his German questionnaire, but J. Edgar Hoover succeeded in blowing his cover. While MI5 desperately needed Popov to deceive the Abwehr about the D-day invasion, they assured him that a return to the German secret service headquarters in Lisbon would result in torture and execution. He went anyway....

Into the Lion's Mouth is a globe-trotting account of a man's entanglement with espionage, murder, assassins, and lovers - including enemy spies and a Hollywood starlet. It is a story of subterfuge and seduction, patriotism, and cold-blooded courage. It is the story of Dusko Popov - the inspiration for James Bond.

©2016 Larry Loftis (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Interesting

A little challenging to keep up with the players in an audio book format. Interesting story.

Good story

It's a bit hard to follow as an audiobook. I think it would be easier to read instead of listening to it. It did whet my appetite to learn more about the inspiration for James Bond and espionage in general during WW2.

Where was the editor during this performance??!!

I wanted to love this book, because I have encountered the subject, Mr. Popov in other books and was looking forward to him being the sole focus. Larry Loftis wrote well about a fascinating personality, but then the narrator, Eric Dove ruined it with repeated , terrible mispronunciations of dozens of names of people and places. Not just the French, German or Yugoslav names and places, but the British & American, too! I actually yelled at my IPad . I am fairly certain that robotic Alexa would have done a better job. Doesn't anyone edit the audio version of a book? If a editor makes a writer spell word properly, someone needs to make sure the narrator pronounces them properly. Where was George Guidal or James Gillies or Simon Vance?

Held my interest

Good story, well read. The story Held my interest from beginning to end. It is a true spy story

Reads Like A Novel

Loftus is to be commended for the way in which he takes a subject that might easily become dull with detail and causes it to read like a spy thriller.

Tantalizing History

Extraordinarily detailed with non stop intrigue. I couldn't stop listening. Never had I thought about the sacrifices and difficulties that a spy would have to endure. Also, found the sections concerning J. Edgar Hoover both facinating and infuriating. I wish all history was a thrilling as this book.

great story behind James Bond

I found it very fascinating and very edge of your seat drama. very good details on this agent and very exciting story.

Great listen and inspired story

Superb telling of an amazing life. Thank you. He was the man needed for that time in history.

A matter of style...

The story is awesome. There is no shortage of intrigue and detail lining up to the timeline of WW2. Very cool to learn about the swirling currents of the less obvious way the war was waged. Also very interesting to learn about the total ineptitude of Hoover. However, the writing style is very punchy and comes at you in bursts of dates and names that are a challenge to keep track of.

Makes me wish Ian Fleming wrote it

A very accurate Bio of Dusko Popov who was Ian Fleming's true to life inspiration for James Bond. Larry Loftis' portrait is in depth and accurate at a level even beyond scholarly. But for me this work doesn't have the color and passion of Fleming's writing. It's good to read though for a view into this amazing life of a very real spy, for yet another WWII experience and perspective, and for an appreciation of Fleming's ability to create his character and settings from this real person and actual places.