Against the backdrop of World War One, and rising hysteria over German
spies on the British home front, Basil Thompson was seconded from
Scotland Yard to hunt, arrest and interrogate the potential German spies
identified by the nascent British intelligence services. His is an
extraordinary story of sleuthing and secrets during a time of war.
Basil Thomson was Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan
Police, which made him the head of the Criminal Investigation Department
at New Scotland Yard. As head of CID, Thomson was involved in the
arrests of suspected spies, suffragettes, Indian revolutionaries and
Irish rebels.