Fonthill Media, 2016

Silver was the codename for the only quintuple spy of the Second World War, spying for the Italians, Germans, Japanese, Soviets and the British. The Germans awarded him the Iron Cross, Germany’s highest military decoration, and paid him £2.5 million in today's money. In reality, Silver deceived the Nazis on behalf of the Soviets and the British. In 1942 the Russians decided to share Silver with the British, the only time during the war that the Soviets agreed to such an arrangement. This brought him under the control of Peter Fleming (brother of Ian Fleming) who acted as his spy master.

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Silver used the transmitter the Germans gave him to broadcast misleading military information directly to Abwehr headquarters in Berlin. The code name Silver was one of many assumed names for Bhagat Ram Talwar, a Hindu Pathan from the North West Frontier province of then British India. Between 1941 and 1945 Silver made twelve 200-mile trips on foot over mountain passes and hostile tribal territory from Peshawar to Kabul to supply false information to the Germans.