Agent Sonya Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy
Agent Sonya Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
‘His best book yet’ The Times
Nick's Review:
Ben Macintyre's books are without fail always entertaining. However, this time there is an additional level of intensity to his novel and the level of research behind it. Having grown up during the cold war where the media painted communists as the communal enemy, it is interesting to go behind the eyes of an agent who worked for the Soviet Union. Agent Sonya's flight to communism in the face of the treachery perpetuated by the Nazi's on their own people is; however, just one of the interesting aspects of this true story that sprawls across the world through war time Germany, pre-communist China, Switzerland and Cold War England and Europe.
Sonya's lifetime of achievements is a testament to her fortitude and absolute belief in what she was doing - sometimes at great cost to the people she most loved. She is probably the person responsible for starting the cold war with her deft touch in smuggling atomic secrets directly to Stalin - running rings around her male contemporaries. Ursula Kuczynski Burton, otherwise known as Agent Sonya, conducted some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century. Macintyre's story is a gripping ride and destined to be one of the great spy stories from the last century.
Lola's Review
A fascinating book detailing the life and career of Ursula Kucynski Burton, a spy in WWII. A historical book written so that it reads like a fiction novel, easy to read and an intriguing insight.
Publisher Review:
The incredible story behind the greatest female spy in history from one of Britain's best historians, now in paperback
Ursula Kuczynski Burton was a spymaster, saboteur, bomb-maker and secret agent. Codenamed 'Agent Sonya', her story has never been told - until now.
Born to a German Jewish family, as Ursula grew, so did the Nazis' power. As a fanatical opponent of the fascism that ravaged her homeland, Ursula was drawn to communism as a young woman, motivated by the promise of a fair and peaceful society.
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 conducted some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century.
In Agent Sonya, Britain's most acclaimed historian Ben Macintyre delivers an exhilarating tale that's as fast-paced as any fiction. It is the incredible story of one spy's life, a life that would alter the course of history . . .