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House for Spies Edward Wake-Walker

House for Spies By Edward Wake-Walker

House for Spies by Edward Wake-Walker


£6.30
New RRP £19.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 4 left

Summary

* A rare insight into the SIS's turbulent working relationship with de Gaulle's Free French intelligence service * Gripping accounts of covert intelligence work in occupied France told in English for the first time * Includes the heroic story of the special duties Lysander pilots

House for Spies Summary

House for Spies by Edward Wake-Walker

This is the story of the bizarre role played by Barbara Bertram in the Second World War. From 1941 to 1944 she provided board and lodging in her Sussex farmhouse to men and women of the French Resistance who, acting as intelligence agents for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), were flown by moonlight in and out of Tangmere aerodrome by RAF Lysander pilots. Barbara's husband was a conducting officer for the SIS and his house, Bignor Manor, near Petworth, was deemed to be the perfect undercover stopover for agents waiting for their flight into occupied France. As well as Barbara's experiences, which included sewing suicide pills into the cuffs of agents who requested it, the book follows the mixed fortunes of the Lysander pilots and the agents themselves, several of whom were captured, tortured and killed in their efforts to get German military intelligence back to the UK. While the exploits of Churchill's SOE saboteur agents are well documented, the intelligence-gathering work of individuals featured in this book, such as Gilbert Renault (aka Remy), Christian Pineau and Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, and their dealings with the SIS are hitherto sparsely recorded in accounts of the Second World War. The networks they formed were responsible for providing detailed information to the allies on much of Hitler's key weaponry, including U-boat and battleship movements, the Normandy defences and the V1 and V2 flying bombs. Now, for the first time, their story will be told in full.

House for Spies Reviews

'Edward Wake-Walker's meticulously researched chronicles of desperate resistance, audacity, duty, determination and daring are a valuable addition to the history of World War II - and yet another reminder of that extraordinary light within the human spirit which flames even in the darkest times' - Bel Mooney, Daily Mail

About Edward Wake-Walker

Edward Wake-Walker, born in 1952, is the great nephew of Barbara Bertram. The son of a Royal Navy officer, he was educated at Marlborough College and Aix-en-Provence University before joining the staff of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1975. He has travelled extensively through Europe, the USA and South America, representing the RNLI as their PR director, and he has also published five books on the history of saving life at sea. Edward lives on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, and, since leaving the RNLI in 2002, has become a full-time writer.

Additional information

GOR004048534
9780709090151
0709090153
House for Spies by Edward Wake-Walker
Used - Very Good
Hardback
The Crowood Press Ltd
2011-08-01
288
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - House for Spies