The Spy Who Loved: the secrets and lives of one of Britain's bravest wartime heroines

(Paperback, Unabridged edition)

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The remarkable story of Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville, George Medal, OBE and Croix de Guerre. In June 1952, a woman was murdered by an obsessive colleague in a hotel in South Kensington. Her name was Christine Granville. That she died young was perhaps unsurprising, but that she had survived the Second World War was remarkable. The daughter of a feckless Polish aristocratic and his wealthy Jewish wife, she would become one of Britain's most daring and highly decorated secret agents. Having fled Poland on the outbreak of war, she was recruited by the intelligence services long before the establishment of the SOE, and took on mission after mission. She skied over the hazardous High Tatras into Poland, served in Egypt and North Africa and was later parachuted into Occupied France, where an agent's life expectancy was only six weeks. Her courage, quick wit and determination won her release from arrest more than once, and saved the lives of several fellow officers, including one of her many lovers, just hours before their execution by the Gestapo. More importantly, perhaps, the intelligence she gathered was a significant contribution to the Allied war effort and her success was reflected in the fact that she was awarded the George Medal, the OBE and the Croix de Guerre.

Reviews

A stunning biographical achievement -- Alison Weir
Clare Mulley tells her story with a bravura that matches Christine's charismatic character * Saga *
A fine account of Christine Granville's extraordinary war, told with skill and care . . . Mulley succeeds in making her human . . .inspiring * Literary Review *
Compulsively readable . . . Clare Mulley has done a dogged piece of detective work piecing together Christine's ultimately tragic life. Understandably obsessed by her charismatic subject, she has written a thrilling book and paid due homage to a difficult woman who seized life with both hands * Daily Telegraph *

Author Bio

Clare Mulley is the author of The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb (Oneworld, 2009), which won the Daily Mail Biographers' Club Prize.