THE SIXTH MAN
The Extraordinary Life of Paddy Costello
James McNeish

Auckland. Cambridge. Moscow. Paris. Hailed as the ‘most brilliant linguist and ablest foreign envoy’ New Zealand ever produced, the story of Paddy Costello’s epic life and the mystery which surrounds his reputation are brilliantly described in James McNeish’s beautifully structured account of this exceptional man’s life. Published last year to great acclaim in New Zealand, its English publication will finally answer the conspiracy theories of Chapman Pincher, the deceit of Anthony Blunt and the myth of Costello’s espionage activities which has captured the imagination of some English historians.

It was Paddy Costello who alerted the West to Soviet possession of the atom bomb. He was the first Allied diplomat to enter and report on the Nazi death camps at the end of the war, and he remained the favourite Intelligence officer of the legendary General Freyberg. Paddy Costello was a scholar, a soldier, a diplomat, a maverick, an exemplary father, a lover of good wine. But was he also a spy?

'This is an important book about a fascinating man who held fast to his beliefs and his humanity at a difficult time in history' – Phillip Knightley

James McNeish lives in New Zealand. The author of more than twenty books and plays, he has received a number of awards and scholarships. Hailed by Robert Nye as ‘a life-enhancing writer’, McNeish spent seven years researching and writing The Sixth Man.