
A Life in Secrets
The Story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE
Sarah Helm(Author)
Little, Brown & Company (Publisher)
Published on 14. September 2005
Book
Hardback
496 pages
978-0-316-72497-5 (ISBN)
Description
During World War Two the Special Operation Executive's French Section sent more than 400 agents into Occupied France - at least 100 never returned and were reported 'Missing Believed Dead' after the war. Twelve of these were women who died in German concentration camps - some were tortured, some were shot, and some died in the gas chambers. Vera Atkins had helped prepare these women for their missions, and when the war was over she went out to Germany to find out what happened to them and the other agents lost behind enemy lines. But while the woman who carried out this extraordinary mission appeared quintessentially English, she was nothing of the sort. Vera Atkins, who never married, covered her life in mystery so that even her closest family knew almost nothing of her past. In A LIFE IN SECRETS Sarah Helm has stripped away Vera's many veils and - with unprecedented access to official and private papers, and the cooperation of Vera's relatives - vividly reconstructed an extraordinary life.
Reviews / Votes
'It is a testament to Helm's detective skills that she has marshalled evidence to refute the various suppositions about Atkins, presenting a truth more surprising and more compelling than the numerous fictions constructed about this dedicated, if flawed, intelligence officer' WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLYMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
16 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-316-72497-5 (9780316724975)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Sarah Helm was a reporter on the SUNDAY TIMES and Diplomatic Editor for the INDEPENDENT before becoming Jerusalem and then Brussels correspondent for the same paper. Now a freelance writer, Sarah was invited to undertake this project by the family of Vera Atkins.