When it comes to espionage, not only is truth stranger than fiction, sometimes it can be downright unbelievable. Ronald Drabkin's exceptionally entertaining account of World War I hero Frederick Rutland, Beverly Hills Spy, is all the more jaw-dropping because it's entirely true.

Rutland, a seasoned British pilot, earned distinction in 1916 at the Battle of Jutland by piloting the first airplane to take off from an aircraft carrier. Later in the battle, he dived overboard to save a wounded sailor from drowning, garnering him the Albert Medal, First Class, and an audience with King George V. His compatriots soon bestowed on him the moniker "Rutland of Jutland."

By 1922, however, Rutland's career path hit a snag when the Royal Air Force considered him, at age 30, "too old" for promotion. Drabkin hints that Rutland's crumbling and unorthodox ...