Ben Macintyre

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New York

Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy

The New York Times bestselling author of The Spy and the Traitor reveals the story of the female spy hidden in plain sight who set the stage for the Cold War--one of the last great intelligence secrets of the twentieth century. If you happened to live in the quiet English village of Great Rollright in 1942, you might have noticed a thin, elegant woman emerging from a cottage and climbing onto her bicycle. Ursula Burton had three children and a husband named Len, who worked as a machinist nearby. Burton was friendly but reserved, and spoke English with a slight foreign accent. Her neighbors in the Cotswolds knew little about her. They did not know that Burton was a dedicated communist, a Soviet colonel, and a veteran spy who had already conducted espionage operations in China, Poland, and Switzerland. They did not know that Len was also a Soviet agent, or that Burton kept a powerful radio transmitter connected to Moscow in their outhouse. They did not know that in her latest espionage mission, Burton had infiltrated communist spies into a top-secret American intelligence operation that sent anti-Nazi agents parachuting into the Third Reich. But perhaps the most remarkable thing they did not know about Ursula Burton was that when she hopped onto her bike and pedaled away, she was heading to a countryside rendezvous with Klaus Fuchs, the nuclear physicist working on Britain's top secret atomic weapons program. Klaus was Burton's best agent, and together they were gathering the scientific secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build the bomb. This true-life spy story is a masterpiece about the woman codenamed "Sonya," one of the most important female spies in history. Hunted by the Chinese, the Japanese, the Nazis, MI5, MI6, and the FBI, she evaded all of them, and survived as well the brutal Soviet purges that left many of her friends and colleagues dead. Her story reflects the great ideological clash of the twentieth century--between communism, fascism, and Western democracy--and casts new light on the spy battles and shifting allegiances of our own times. With access to Sonya's papers and her intelligence files from multiple countries, Ben Macintyre has conjured a thrilling secret history of a landmark agent, a true original who altered the course of the Cold War and helped plunge the world into a nuclear standoff that would last for decades.

Agent Sonya

50fd95c9-ebac-4eed-aed9-0d050bc3282f-1

The Spy Next Door

The "master storyteller" (San Francisco Chronicle) behind the New York Times bestseller The Spy and the Traitor uncovers the true story behind the Cold War's most intrepid female spy. "[An] immensely exciting, fast-moving account."--The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Foreign Affairs * Kirkus Reviews * Library Journal In 1942, in a quiet village in the leafy English Cotswolds, a thin, elegant woman lived in a small cottage with her three children and her husband, who worked as a machinist nearby. Ursula Burton was friendly but reserved, and spoke English with a slight foreign accent. By all accounts, she seemed to be living a simple, unassuming life. Her neighbors in the village knew little about her. They didn't know that she was a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer. They didn't know that her husband was also a spy, or that she was running powerful agents across Europe. Behind the facade of her picturesque life, Burton was a dedicated Communist, a Soviet colonel, and a veteran agent, gathering the scientific secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build the bomb. This true-life spy story is a masterpiece about the woman code-named "Sonya." Over the course of her career, she was hunted by the Chinese, the Japanese, the Nazis, MI5, MI6, and the FBI--and she evaded them all. Her story reflects the great ideological clash of the twentieth century--between Communism, Fascism, and Western democracy--and casts new light on the spy battles and shifting allegiances of our own times. With unparalleled access to Sonya's diaries and correspondence and never-before-seen information on her clandestine activities, Ben Macintyre has conjured a page-turning history of a legendary secret agent, a woman who influenced the course of the Cold War and helped plunge the world into a decades-long standoff between nuclear superpowers.

Category - Non Fiction / History

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Good

Listed - 19 hours ago

Views - 1

Ships From - New York

Est. Publication Date - Sep 2020

Additional Information

Publisher Description

Tags

Agent Sonya

By:

$4.00

Condition

Format

Meet the seller

Discover more

Agent Sonya

By: Ben Macintyre

'Agent Sonya' readers also enjoyed:

Additional titles by Ben Macintyre

Recently Viewed

Browse by categories

Category - Non Fiction / History

Format - Hardcover

Condition - Good

Listed - 19 hours ago

Views - 1

Ships From - New York

Est. Publication Date - Sep 2020

Additional Information

Publisher Description

Tags

Agent Sonya

By:

$4.00

Condition

Format

Meet the seller

Discover more

Agent Sonya

By: Ben Macintyre

'Agent Sonya' readers also enjoyed:

Additional titles by Ben Macintyre

Recently Viewed