Written with exclusive access to Whitehall papers and secret diaries, 'The Quest for C' is a unique inside history of the early years of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) through the life of its founder and original 'C', Sir Mansfield Cumming. A retired naval officer, he was fifty when invited to form the secret service. At first he had no staff and subsidised operations from his own pocket, mounting them himself - with disguise and swordstick. But from these unlikely beginnings grew a sophisticated organisation that ran extensive spy networks behind German lines during the First World War, later intervening in Soviet Russia with telling effect. Cumming's legacy included not only an ethos that survives within the secret service to this day but the green ink and famous 'C' signature still used by his successors. Packed with adventure and espionage, 'The Quest for C' brings both the man and the most secret of institutions powerfully to life.

"Judd writes so readably. This well written and meticulous biography brings to life one of the most elusive and intriguing personalities of modern British history".

CHRISTOPHER ANDREW, 'Sunday Telegraph'

"With its subtle editorialising, quiet humour and eminent good sense, this is a text that future historians will pore over"

ANDREW LYCETT, 'Literary Review'

"A splendidly judicial survey: this is an important contribution to modern military history".

M.R.D. FOOT, 'Daily Telegraph'

"Judd describes a character who might have stepped from the pages of John Buchan, a larger-than-life figure who liked to travel abroad with a swordstick and whose firm belief was that the perfect spy ''should be a gentleman. Absolutely honest with considerable tact and at the same time, force of character. It is only the honest man who can defeat the ruffian''. This is likely to remain the definitive account".

ROBERT McCRUM, 'Observer'