Secret Agent: The true story of the Special Operations Executive

In June 1940 Britain was driven from the continent by Hitler’s conquering armies. As the British stared invasion in the face, a group of unconventional warriors planned a new form of warfare and the Special Operations Executive was born…

With a brief from Winston Churchill ‘to set Europe ablaze’, this top-secret agency was given the dangerous task of co-ordinating subversion and sabotage against the enemy by all means necessary - using disguise, deception, bribery, explo,sives, guerrilla warfare and even assassination.

Drawn from the extensive and in-depth interviews conducted for the groundbreaking BBC series, this book tells the story of the brave men and women who risked their lives to fight this secret war and reveals the covert world of SOE: how the operatives were recruited; the daring operations they carried out; the radio and coding systems that kept them in touch with London; and the gadgets designed to help them carry out their missions behind enemy lines.

 

Praise for Secret Agent:

‘Anyone connected with SOE will enjoy it, while for those seeking enlightenment the book will provide an excellent starting point’ - Sunday Telegraph

‘Stafford gives us a superior example of the genre, writing with aplomb about the SOE’s most daring operations’ - Sunday Times

‘It is as good an introduction to this thrilling and moving subject as we are likely to get’ - Spectator

David Stafford is an historian and former diplomat who has written extensively on espion,age, intelligence, Churchill, and the Second World War. He is now an Honorary Fellow and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, where he and his wife now live.