The Spy With No Name: The Cold War and a Case of Stolen Identity

by Jeff Maysh

For fans of John le Carré and Robert Ludlum, The Spy With No Name is the unbelievable true story of Erwin van Haarlem, a Cold War secret agent whose stolen identity broke the heart of an innocent woman—who thought she’d found her long-lost son.In 1977, Johanna van Haarlem, 52, finally tracked down the son she had abandoned as a baby, during the Second World War. She was delighted that he had grown into a charming Dutch waiter in London. But Erwin van Haarlem was actually a dangerous Communist spy who had stolen her son’s identity to uncover British and American military secrets.In this true life spy thriller, award-winning journalist Jeff Maysh tracks down the former spy in Prague, who tells his remarkable story. Maysh skillfully reconstructs one of the most unusual cases in espionage history, as Erwin van Haarlem maintains his top secret mission for eleven years... while pretending to be a stranger’s son. Enter a world of betrayal, secret codes, invisible ink and mysterious radio messages, where nobody is beyond suspicion.Jeff Maysh investigates unusual true crimes and urban legends. His deeply immersive stories have appeared in publications including the Atlantic, Playboy, and Smithsonian. His Kindle Single, Handsome Devil, was one of Amazon’s ‘Best Books of 2016’. He is British-American and lives in Los Angeles.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, Audiobook, True Crime, Thriller, Espionage

58 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2017

Reviews

[Shawn Callon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing story about a spy who worked for the Czech intelligence service during the Cold War. The spy stole the identity of Erwin van Haarlem and worked for eleven years in London spying for the Soviet Union, even maintaining his false identity to Johanna van Haarlem - Erwin's real mother who tracked him down. He eventually was arrested by the MI5 in the UK.
The story lacked excitement and surprises. It read more like a long newspaper article detailing the facts behind 'Erwin's' activities.

This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.

[Paulina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read! It would make a wonderful movie! I agree, it would have been wonderful to know more details, but overall, it was a enjoyable and interesting look into the espionage world during the Cold War.

[Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman gets raped during the war, gives birth to a son and against her will, gives the boy up to an orphanage. Years later, a spy needs a new name and takes the name of an orphan....

Sounds like a bad plot of a cheesy novel, but unfortunately, it's a true story that takes place during the cold war.

Short, well written, clear, and sad on so many levels

[Aaron E. Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

this is a Quick read and a great story. A nice overview of the spy game that is not James Bond-ish.

[Leira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read

I wish it were a more detailed story. It's interesting and makes me wonder why I haven't seen a movie about Erwin.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent short account of a Cold War era Czech spy who was a deep cover penetration operative in the UK. He pretended to be a lost orphan (taking the identity of a child lost or abandoned in the Czech Republic during WW2), then was placed by Czech intelligence in the west. He then encountered the actual mother of the child whose identity he had taken and had to live a weird lie of being very friendly with her (as a long lost son) while simultaneously having only minimal contact with his own parents back in the Czech Republic. He was then captured by British intelligence, and remained in prison until some time after the cold war ended. Even afterward, there is ambiguity about his "mother", the extent to which counterintelligence forces in the UK knew who he was and when, etc. A very twisted tale of espionage.

[Stephen Fridrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long been a fan of espionage books and movies. In this book we have a real life espionage story. Descriptions of the many techniques align well with the fictional books. This gives credit to both the real and fictional.
This story is concise and short. The main character Erwin Van Haarlem is reasonably well developed. The mother Johanna does play a significant role as well. Most of the other characters are not as thoroughly explained. Given that this is a historical description, it would have been much more difficult to get accurate information about these other characters. The many sources that are itemized gives stronger evidence to the accuracy of the story. However, I very much enjoyed this short story. I recommend this book especially to fans of espionage.

[MR ANDREAS WHEELER · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of meaty detail but doesn't really get enough done

A great thrilling book but doesn't really seem to get into the details enough. There are a lot of details that seem to be left out and at some points things aren't explained clearly enough. The other thing is the book book finishes way too early. Almost feeling like it should go on for double the length it currently is. The story is indeed amazing I just feel its a little expensive for what it really is. A short read which is quite thrilling and entertaining.

[Jonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Cold War short story about a Czech spy operating in London. It’s a little disjointed in the first part of the story, but it smooths out towards the middle. It gives a small glimpse of the tension between the Soviet Union and the West before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The story starts out on a tragic note and ends up sad for almost all of the characters. The story is too short to really provide any new tradecraft techniques. The main purpose is to highlight this one spy in particular.

[SY NA · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn't clear to me until about 1/3 of the way through listening to the book that this is a true story!

I thought it was fiction because it could have come straight out of a LeCarre/Flemming novel. Its really just a long form article, but one that's written with a hint of mystery and you're not sure about how its going to end until the very end.

Very well written, highly recommended, and its a short very sweet read.

[Robin Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short story.

Loved this short story, I cannot understand how someone can give up his/her life and pretend to be someone else. The further complication of the mother and how coldly he treated her was sad. Even if she was in on it, he seemed to have no heart. Very good read.

[Julie Totsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, but interesting.

I don't understand the bad reviews that complain about the length. This isn't a full length book, it is a single, which is about the length of a magazine article. I very much enjoyed reading the book and will probably go on to read the book mentioned in it: Defender of the Realm. If you like true life spy books, check this one out.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story. A woman is raped and forced by her father to give up her son. A spy assumes his identity. She finds the spy and he spends years pretending to be her son until he is finally captured and a DNA test proves he isn’t. He has no remorse. What happened next? You will have to listen to find out. Truth is stranger than fiction.

[Bradley L Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting true spy thriller. Very well written.

I really enjoyed every page of this book.
I couldn't lay it down.
At first I thought I was reading fictional account.
The research was wonderful.

[Bri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel or biography?

It started like a novel but ended like a biography, which distracted from the story. Can't decide if I liked it or not, but it was a quick read that kept me occupied on a flight.

[J C0llier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read

Was curious to see if the suspense and action suggested by the title. It didn't disappoint. There was enough character and plot development to keep entertained. It was a good read

[Joe Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book with almost a story

Just when the story became interesting it was over. I was expecting more from the story line. Without warning the story was over. Don't waste your time with this one.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bland

No idea why this one was even suggested as a recommendation based on my past purchases or books. It’s nothing like the detailed and beautiful stories related to world conflict I’ve read in the past. Bland and written like a bad newspaper article.

[David Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding novel about real events

This exciting novel shows that real life events can be more suspenseful than fiction. Well-written and very exciting. I recommend this excellent book.

[Vlasta Ruta]

Original book by Jaroslav Kmenta (czech investigative journalist)
was published already in 2005!
He made an interview with real Erwin.

http://www.munimedia.cz/prispevek/ces...

[Alex Berube · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turns out “the man with no name” actually had a name, but was it really his?
Reads more like an investigative report than a fully fleshed out story, but it remains an interesting, brief read about espionage from the other side during post-WW2 and the Cold War.

[Sagar Godbole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely wild story, more akin to something that Jeffrey Archer may write. The only thing more shocking than the content of the book is that this is a true story. I had to double,triple check that this is an actual true story. Wild stuff.

[Wade Tritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read !!!

The book is good if you like history. It's written well enough where you always want to keep reading till the end of the story.

[Mary Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snippet of cold war history

True tragic story of a mother seeking an abandoned child and of a blunder by a foreign government. Sad But not quite a compelling tale.

[Logan Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Story

This was a fascinating story. It was very short and was written a bit like a news story. I would've liked more eloquent prose.

[Fir Rahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read but...

It was a quick read with some interesting parts but I guess I wanted more out of this short book.

[Jeff Rodocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

Well written book on the Cold War. Good portrayal of viewpoints of characters. Spy was 73 in 2016 not 64.

[Bryan milstid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good , quick spy read

The book was great. It was more of a documentary style read than a great action story but was a pleasure .

[Rebecca Bullard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story

It was an okay read/listen. It got me to work. Nothing that exciting in my opinion. No turns or twists in the plot.

[Megan Bowes · Rating 4 out of 5]

These short novels are rather fun to read. It's kinda nice to read a condensed novel. Surprisingly, I don't feel like anything was left out. I liked it.