Sidney Reilly has had few if any peers in the annuals of espionage. Born Georgi Rosenblum, a Jew, in Odessa in 1873, Sidney was an adventurer par excellence. His story is a testament to his laudable courage and overweening chutzpah. Like most spies, they are the only source of their often vaulting claims as the facts are mostly unsubstantiatable from other sources.
In spite of his Russian heritage, Sidney Reilly was imbued with a sense of duty to the British. Be that as it may but Sidney was an incorrigible rogue with perhaps a misguided sense of duty. Unlike the outdated British Secret Service, still wedded to a bygone era of chivalry and fair-play, Sidney obtained the results that they required through a ruthless uncompromising streak even if it meant breaking a number of female hearts or even killing in the process. Dubbed the Ace of Spies, Reilly’s sobriquet was apt.