THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
'His best book yet' The Times
'Thrilling . . . Macintyre will have you hooked to her life's every twist and turn' Times / Sunday Times Books of the Year
'Macintyre has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carré's nonfiction counterpart' New York Times
THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF WW2'S MOST EXTRAORDINARY SPY - FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR
From planning an assassination attempt on Hitler in Switzerland, to spying on the Japanese in Manchuria, to preventing nuclear war (or so she believed) by stealing the science of atomic weaponry from Britain to give to Moscow, Ursula Kuczynski Burton conducted some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century.
Born to a German Jewish family, as Ursula grew, so did the Nazis' power. A fanatical opponent of the fascism that ravaged her homeland, she was drawn to communism as a young woman, motivated by the promise of a fair and peaceful society. She eventually became a spymaster, saboteur, bomb-maker and secret agent.
In Agent Sonya, Britain's most acclaimed historian vividly reveals the fascinating tale of a life that would change the course of history. Classic Ben Macintyre - a gripping ride, based on meticulous research, that reads like a novel - this is the greatest spy story never told.
'This book is classic Ben Macintyre . . . quirky human details enliven every page' Clare Mulley, Spectator
'Spins gloriously through one of the most extraordinary private lives of the twentieth century' Tony Rennell, Daily Mail Book of the Week
'She is the strongest character of all in Macintyre's bestselling series of wartime tales . . . I raced through the pages to keep up with the plot' Julian Glover, Evening Standard
'This impeccably researched account of her double life spans continents and is brilliantly compelling' Sunday Mirror
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Imprint: Penguin
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Published: 17/09/2020
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ISBN: 9780241986967
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Length: 400 Pages
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RRP: £8.99
Reviews
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The best true spy story I have ever read
John le Carré on 'The Spy and the Traitor'
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Thrilling...Macintyre will have you hooked to her life's every twist and turn
Lucy Knight, Times/Sunday Times Books of the Year
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Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else. He has a remarkable ability to construct a narrative that is as taut and urgent as it is carefully nuanced.
John Preston, Evening Standard
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Macintyre has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carré's nonfiction counterpart
New York Times
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This book is classic Ben Macintyre...quirky human details enliven every page... it is Macintyre's own vivid retelling of her perilous professional, personal and political life that make Agent Sonya such an accessible spy story.
Spectator
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He has the unerring gift of uncovering those astonishing truths that make even the best novelists of espionage seem both earthbound and artificial in comparison
Daily Telegraph
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His best book yet
The Times
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Another year, another blockbuster real-life spy tome... Think John le Carré at his early best - but fact not fiction
Daily Express
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He...spins gloriously through one of the most extraordinary private lives of the 20th century
Daily Mail, Book of the Week
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In Agent Sonya, Macintyre has pulled off his most remarkable trick: he leaves us admiring, and even cheering for, the woman at the heart of his story, someone who not only wanted to destroy our democracy but helped Russia get a nuclear bomb. She is the strongest character of all in Macintyre's bestselling series of wartime tales... I raced through the pages to keep up with the plot
Evening Standard
