
Agent Sonya is another wonderful Ben Macintyre book - wonderful language, the stupidity of states, and a firsthand account inside the world of spies.
Agent Sonya, or her real name Ursula Kuczynski, was born in 1907 and became a committed communist shaped by Weimar instability and a fervent anti-fascist. Her life spanned the time from communism's rise to its fall. She was plotting assassinations of Hitler, smuggling the Manhattan Project's secrets to Stalin, and ended up brushing up with the likes of Ho-Chi Minh.
The book took the reader from Shanghai → Poland → Switzerland → the UK → East Germany, and was an amazing account of each time and place.
The most fascinating thing was how she, on one end, was larger than life, and on the other was a mom and "domestic housewife" (especially in the eyes of the countries she spied on).
As all Ben Macintyres I would recommend it!
Agent Sonya is another wonderful Ben Macintyre book - wonderful language, the stupidity of states, and a firsthand account inside the world of spies.
Agent Sonya, or her real name Ursula Kuczynski, was born in 1907 and became a committed communist shaped by Weimar instability and a fervent anti-fascist. Her life spanned the time from communism's rise to its fall. She was plotting assassinations of Hitler, smuggling the Manhattan Project's secrets to Stalin, and ended up brushing up with the likes of Ho-Chi Minh.
The book took the reader from Shanghai → Poland → Switzerland → the UK → East Germany, and was an amazing account of each time and place.
The most fascinating thing was how she, on one end, was larger than life, and on the other was a mom and "domestic housewife" (especially in the eyes of the countries she spied on).
As all Ben Macintyres I would recommend it!