author
Armgaard Karl Graves
Best known as a spy turned author, this German-born operative transformed firsthand experience of prewar intelligence work into dramatic books about secrets, power, and political intrigue.
1 Audiobook
The Secrets of the German War Office
by Armgaard Karl Graves
About the author
Armgaard Karl Graves was born in Berlin on May 7, 1882, and is remembered as a double agent who worked around the world of German naval intelligence and Britain's MI5 before and during the First World War. His life was unusual even by spy-story standards, and that background gave his writing a direct, inside-the-system flavor.
He wrote books including The Secrets of the German War Office and The Secrets of the Hohenzollerns, drawing on espionage, military affairs, and court politics. For audiobook listeners, he stands out less as a conventional literary figure than as a real-world intelligence insider whose books promise intrigue rooted in lived experience.
Sources agree on the broad outlines of his career, though some personal details remain uncertain, including the name he may originally have used and the exact circumstances of his death, which is generally believed to have occurred in the United States.