From the bestselling author of The Spy and the Traitor comes the gripping true story of the most remarkable female spy in history – a dedicated communist who lived under the cover of a respectable Oxfordshire housewife.
Signed Edition - with exclusive extra content from the author.
A standard edition is available here.
Shortlisted for the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2021.
The incredible story of the greatest female spy in history, from one of Britain's most acclaimed historians - available for pre-order now
In the quiet Cotswolds village of Great Rollright in 1944, a thin, and unusually elegant, housewife emerged from her cottage to go on her usual bike ride. A devoted mother-of-three, attentive wife and friendly neighbour, Sonya Burton seemed to epitomise rural British domesticity.
However, rather than pedalling towards the shops with her ration book, Sonya was heading for the Oxfordshire countryside to gather scientific secrets from a nuclear physicist. Secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build the atomic bomb.
Far from an obedient homemaker, Sonya Burton was a dedicated communist, a decorated colonel and a veteran spy who risked her life to keep the Soviet Union in the nuclear arms race. Her husband was also a Soviet agent and her children had three different fathers from lovers she'd encountered throughout her incredible career.
In Agent Sonya, Ben Macintyre reveals the astonishing story behind the most important woman spy in history and the huge emotional cost that came with being a mother, a wife, and a secret agent at once.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 2928377041403
Number of pages: 400
Dimensions: 240 x 156 mm
The captivating story of the secret agent who travelled the world with kids in tow, fooled MI5 and passed atomic secrets to the USSR
Highly recommend this excellent read, Ben MacIntyre's thoroughly engaging true-to-life story of a remarkable woman, lover, mother and spy. The notes, sources and bibliography are testament to the research which... More
Absolutely fantastic gave a full insight into how Soviet spy’s operated.
It is well written and once you start it you can’t put it down
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