Churchill’s Iceman: The True Story of Geoffrey Pyke – Genius, Fugitive, Spy
In 2009 classified documents on Geoffrey Pyke (1893-1948), a brilliant maverick inventor and eccentric outsider, were released, showing that MI5 suspected him of spying for Germany in WWI and for the Soviet Union in WWII, the latter whilst developing for Churchill’s Combined Operations a giant aircraft carrier made of ‘pykrete’, a frozen mixture of water and woodpulp that was stronger than concrete. Post-WWII, Pyke’s inventions and ideas were increasingly geared to improving mankind’s lot, but most were derided and a disillusioned Pyke committed suicide in 1948. The book reads like an erudite but entertaining thriller, with cleverly interwoven twin threads: Pyke’s genius as an inventor including his many altercations with the Establishment, and MI5’s efforts to unmask him as a spy.
NB, for anyone of a certain age (like me) who might be wondering if he was related to the 1970s telly-boffin Dr Magnus Pyke – they were first cousins.
