Thecuriousmanspodcast

Matt Crawford speaks with author Ronald Drabkin about his book, Beverly Hills Spy: The Double Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack 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. So how did this hero end up working for the Japanese stealing American aviation trade secrets while living in a mansion in Beverly hills, throwing lavish parties for the Hollywood elite? Drabkin details all this through recently declassified FBI files and through exhaustive research through MI5 and Japanese Naval archives that few English speakers have access to, and sources thought to be lost to history. A book that reads like a novel this is one