A Life in Secrets, (Paperback)

from jontseng

An excellent example of a reportage-driven approach to history. Magisterial research teases out an enigmatic subject. The book has a wonderful Russian-doll structure - Atkins' search for her agents nestles within the author's search for Atkins. Despite this it is to the author's credit that the r...

from wunderkind

Fascinating and brilliantly written. The SOE was the "dirty tricks" department of the intelligence services during WWII; they had some successes in Eastern Europe, but the French department was pretty shockingly incompetent. The aftermath of more-or-less dropping half of their agents into the han...

from bazzafr

A Life in Secrets...The story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE by Sarah Helm (An account of the role of Special Operations Executive agents during the Second World War). The book, A Life in Secrets, reveals the utter disregard for human lives through British incompetence and German savag...

from kraaivrouw

I got this book through a Member Giveaway on LibraryThing & I'm so glad I did - I wouldn't have found it otherwise. This history of Vera Atkins & her search for her missing agents after D-Day was absolutely riveting - not a word I use often. Well-written, cogent, unblinking - this is worth the re...

from jontseng

An excellent example of a reportage-driven approach to history. Magisterial research teases out an enigmatic subject. The book has a wonderful Russian-doll structure - Atkins' search for her agents nestles within the author's search for Atkins. Despite this it is to the author's credit that the r...