Agent Sonya
Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy
Published on 17. September 2020
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-0-241-40850-6 (ISBN)
Description
A TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Published in Paperback on 27 May
'His best book yet' The Times
'Macintyre's page-turner is a dazzling portrait of a flawed yet driven individual who risked everything (including her children) for the cause' Sunday Times
DISCOVER THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF THE SPY WHO ALMOST KILLED HITLER - FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR
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 . . .
'Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else' John Preston
'Macintyre has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carre's nonfiction counterpart' New York Times
'This book is classic Ben Macintyre . . . quirky human details enliven every page' Spectator
Published in Paperback on 27 May
'His best book yet' The Times
'Macintyre's page-turner is a dazzling portrait of a flawed yet driven individual who risked everything (including her children) for the cause' Sunday Times
DISCOVER THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF THE SPY WHO ALMOST KILLED HITLER - FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR
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 . . .
'Macintyre does true-life espionage better than anyone else' John Preston
'Macintyre has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carre's nonfiction counterpart' New York Times
'This book is classic Ben Macintyre . . . quirky human details enliven every page' Spectator
Reviews / Votes
The best true spy story I have ever read -- John le Carre on 'The Spy and the Traitor' Thrilling...Macintyre will have you hooked to her life's every twist and turn -- Lucy Knight * Times/Sunday Times Books of the Year * 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 * Macintyre has found a real-life heroine worthy of his gifts as John le Carre's nonfiction counterpart * New York Times * 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 * 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 * His best book yet -- The Times Another year, another blockbuster real-life spy tome... Think John le Carre at his early best - but fact not fiction * Daily Express * He...spins gloriously through one of the most extraordinary private lives of the 20th century * Daily Mail, Book of the Week * 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 * This impeccably researched account of her double life spans continents and is brilliantly compelling * Sunday Mirror * Macintyre's page-turner is a dazzling portrait of a flawed yet driven individual who risked everything (including her children) for the cause * Sunday Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
667 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-40850-6 (9780241408506)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2020
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€4.99
Available for download
Person
Ben Macintyre is the multimillion-copy bestselling author of books including Agent Sonya, The Spy and the Traitor, Agent Zigzag, Operation Mincemeat and A Spy Among Friends. He is a columnist and Associate Editor at The Times, and has worked as the newspaper's correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. He regularly presents BBC series based on his acclaimed books.