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Agent Jack: The True Story of MI5's Secret Nazi Hunter
by Robert Hutton"An appealing mix of accessibility and research. [Hutton] has illuminated a fascinating and often appalling side of the war at home." — Wall Street Journal The never-before-told story of Eric Roberts, who infiltrated a network of Nazi sympathizers in Great Britain in order to protect the country from the grips of fascismJune 1940: Europe has fallen to Adolf Hitler’s army, and Britain is his next target. Winston Churchill exhorts the country to resist the Nazis, and the nation seems to rally behind him. But in secret, some British citizens are plotting to hasten an invasion. Agent Jack tells the incredible true story of Eric Roberts, a seemingly inconsequential bank clerk who, in the guise of “Jack King”, helped uncover and neutralize the invisible threat of fascism on British shores. Gifted with an extraordinary ability to make people trust him, Eric Roberts penetrated the Communist Party and the British Union of Fascists before playing his greatest role for MI5: Hitler's man in London. Pretending to be an agent of the Gestapo, Roberts single-handedly built a network of hundreds of British Nazi sympathizers—factory workers, office clerks, shopkeepers —who shared their secrets with him. It was work so secret and so sensitive that it was kept out of the reports MI5 sent to Winston Churchill. In a gripping real-world thriller, Robert Hutton tells the fascinating story of an operation whose existence has only recently come to light with the opening of MI5’s World War II files. Drawing on these newly declassified documents and private family archives, Agent Jack shatters the comforting notion that Britain could never have succumbed to fascism and, consequently, that the world could never have fallen to Hitler. Agent Jack is the story of one man who loved his country so much that he risked everything to stand against a rising tide of hate.
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
by Damien LewisThe New Yorker, Best Books of 2022 Vanity Fair, Best Books of 2022 Booklist, Best Books of 2022 Singer. Actress. Beauty. Spy. During WWII, Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous entertainer, was an Allied spy in Occupied France. Prior to World War II, Josephine Baker was a music-hall diva renowned for her singing and dancing, her beauty and sexuality; she was the highest-paid female performer in Europe. When the Nazis seized her adopted city, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all &“negroes and Jews.&” Yet instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight the Nazi evil. Overnight, she went from performer to Resistance spy. In Agent Josephine, bestselling author Damien Lewis uncovers this little-known history of the famous singer&’s life. During the war years, as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers—a cover for her spying work—Baker participated in numerous clandestine activities and emerged as a formidable spy. In turn, she was a hero of the three countries in whose name she served—the US, France, and Britain. Drawing on a plethora of new historical material and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker, explaining why she fully deserves her unique place in the French Panthéon.
Agent M: The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight
by Henry HemmingSpying is the art of knowing who to trust-and who to betrayMaxwell Knight was perhaps the greatest spymaster in history, rumored to be the real-life inspiration for the James Bond character "M." He did more than anyone in his era to combat the rising threat of fascism in Britain during World War II, in spite of his own history inside this movement. He was also truly eccentric--a thrice-married jazz aficionado who kept a menagerie of exotic pets--and almost totally unqualified for espionage.Yet he had a gift for turning practically anyone into a fearless secret agent. Knight's work revolutionized British intelligence, pioneering the use of female agents, among other accomplishments. In telling Knight's remarkable story, Agent M also reveals for the first time in print the names and stories of some of the men and women recruited by Knight, on behalf of MI5, who were asked to infiltrate the country's most dangerous political organizations.Drawing on a vast array of original sources, Agent M reveals not only the story of one of the world's greatest intelligence operators, but the sacrifices and courage required to confront fascism during a nation's darkest time.
Agent Michael Trotobas and SOE in Northern France
by Stewart Kent Nick NicholasThe exceptional exploits, courage and leadership of British SOE Agent Trotobas have long been recognised in France but not in his own country despite being recommended for the Victoria Cross.Captured on his first mission, Trotobas led a mass break-out from Mauzac Internment Camp and eventually returned to England. He immediately volunteered to return and established and ran a resistance group around Lille and the Pas de Calais for a year. As the Nazis closed in, he refused to leave the French men and women who had shown him complete loyalty. He paid the ultimate price, fighting to the death rather than undergo capture.As well as describing the operations of the Sylvestre-Farmer circuit, the authors record the rivalries and intrigues that sprang up culminating in betrayals and extraordinary demand for the court martial and execution of the Circuit's British second in command.This book is a major addition to the bibliography of the SOE and French Resistance.
Agent Most Wanted: The Never-Before-Told Story of the Most Dangerous Spy of World War II
by Sonia PurnellA young readers adaptation of Sonia Purnell's New York Times bestselling book A Woman of No Importance, the story of Virginia Hall; the unassuming American spy who helped the allies win World War II.Virginia Hall was deemed "the most dangerous of all allied spies" by the Gestapo. Armed with her wits and her prosthetic leg, she was deployed behind enemy lines to inspire resistance in France, providing crucial support to fighting the Nazi occupation. In this largely untold story, Sonia Purnell uncovers the truth behind a Baltimore socialite who was essential to allied victory.Adapted for the elementary to middle school audience audience, Agent Most Wanted is equal parts an inspiring tale of feminism in a time when women weren't taken seriously, an epic spy story, and, of course, a retelling of winning one of the largest global conflicts in modern history.
Agent of Byzantium
by Harry TurtledoveA dashing master spy takes on the enemies of the Byzantine Empire and discovers impossible inventions like gunpowder and telescopes in a magnificent romp from the maestro of alternate-history science fiction In another, very different timeline--one in which Mohammed embraced Christianity and Islam never came to be--the Byzantine Empire still flourishes in the fourteenth century, and wondrous technologies are emerging earlier than they did in our own. Having lost his family to the ravages of smallpox, Basil Argyros has decided to dedicate his life to Byzantium. A stalwart soldier and able secret agent, Basil serves his emperor courageously, going undercover to unearth Persia's dastardly plots and disrupting the dark machinations of his beautiful archenemy, the Persian spy Mirrane, while defusing dire threats emerging from the Western realm of the Franco-Saxons. But the world Basil so staunchly defends is changing rapidly, and he must remain ever vigilant, for in this great game of empires, the player who controls the most advanced tools and weaponry--tools like gunpowder, printing, vaccines, and telescopes--must certainly emerge victorious. A collection of interlocking stories that showcase the courage, ingenuity, and breathtaking derring-do of superspy Basil Argyros, Agent of Byzantium presents the great Harry Turtledove at his alternate-world-building best. At once intricate, exciting, witty, and wildly inventive, this is a many-faceted gem from a master of the genre.
Agent of the Terran Empire: A Flandry Book
by Poul Anderson"If it pleased Ruethen of the Long Hand to give a feast and ball at the Crystal Moon for his enemies. He knew they must come. Pride of race had slipped from Terra, while the need to appear well-bred and sophisticated had waxed correspondingly. The fact that spaceships prowled and fought, fifty light-years beyond Antares, made it all the more impossible a gaucherie to refuse an invitation from the Mersian representative. Besides, one could feel delightfully wicked and ever so delicately in danger."It is the common fate of empires to grow old and jaded: Rome, Byzantium, Britain, America, and so on to the Empire of Terra itself, each has near the end succumbed to the same weary "sophistication" that allows a warlord of Merseia to make a mock of a race whose star-conquering ancestors found the Merseians a race of pre-technic barbarians huddled in stone piles - and saved them from extinction. Flandry himself has come to understand that there is no more point to all his victories than that a few trillion of his fellow creatures may live out their lives before the coming of the Long Night of galactic barbarism. That he will not have shortened that coming Dark Age one bit - only postponed it. That the barbarians always win in the end, and are always followed by a new round of civilisation.
Agent Paterson SOE: From Operation Anthropoid to France: The Memoirs of E.H. van Maurik
by Ernest van MaurikErnest Van Maurik, known to all simply as Van, joined the illustrious Artists Rifles regiment in the Territorial Army in 1936, but when war broke out he was commissioned into the Wiltshire Regiment. In the summer of 1940 the regiment was posted at Folkestone to defend the South Coast in the event of an invasion, during which time he undertook a course at Hythe Small Arms School and found himself involved with the SOE, the Special Operations Executive.This led to him to Scotland, first to the Commando Training School at Lochailort and then to Arisaig, where he became responsible for helping organise resistance to the Nazi regime in occupied countries. This involved the training of prospective agents in small arms, demolition and other special forces activities. At this time, he helped train a number of Czech soldiers who went on to participate in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS-Obergruppenfhrer Reinhard Heydrich in Prague.Van was then transferred to the SOEs headquarters in Baker Street, London. There he was to work for notable figures such as Maurice Buckmaster and General Colin Gubbins. He also got to know a number of individuals who were to become famous agents, people such as Peter Churchill, Odette and Yeo-Thomas (The White Rabbit). His main work was to get agents both in and out of Occupied France but then it was his turn to go into the field.Van was initially sent to Malta to help with the dropping of agents into Yugoslavia. His next mission was to Switzerland via Occupied France to assist SOE agents in France and also deal with couriers from F Section SOE who used Switzerland as a channel for communicating with London.After many adventures, Van reached Switzerland where he carried out his task until the end of the war in Europe. He then was involved in assisting the investigation into the fate of the many SOE agents who had been captured by the Germans and were still missing.
Agent Provocateur for Hitler or Churchill?: The Mysterious Life of Stella Lonsdale
by David TremainThere have been many remarkable women who served British Intelligence during the Second World War. One whose dubious claim to have worked for them is a fascinating tale involving three marriages – the first, to a spurious White Russian prince; the second to a playboy-turned-criminal involved in a major jewellery robbery in the heart of London’s Mayfair in the late 1930s. After the war she became romantically involved with a well-known British Fascist, but finally married another notorious criminal whom she had met earlier during the war. The descriptions variously ascribed to her ranged from ‘remarkable’ and ‘quite ravishing’ to ‘…a woman whose loose living would make her an object of shame on any farm-yard’. Until now, very little has been recorded about Stella Lonsdale’s life. She doesn’t even merit a mention in the two official histories of MI5, even though she managed to tie them up in knots for years. This book will explore the role this strange woman may or may not have played in working for British Intelligence, the French Deuxième Bureau, or the Abwehr – German military intelligence – during the Second World War, using her MI5 files as a primary source.
Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy
by Ben MacintyreThe international bestselling author of A Spy and the Traitor and A Spy Among Friends reveals one of the last great untold spy stories of the twentieth century--the woman hidden in plain sight who set the stage for the Cold War.If you happened to be in the quiet English village of Great Rollright in 1942, you might have seen a thin, elegant woman emerging from a cottage and climbing onto her bicycle. Ursula Burton had three children and a husband named Len, who worked as a machinist nearby. She was friendly but reserved, and spoke English with a very slight foreign accent. Her neighbours in the Cotswolds knew little about her. They did not know that Burton was a dedicated communist, a Soviet Colonel, and a veteran spy who had already conducted espionage operations in China, Poland, and Switzerland. They did not know that Len was also a Soviet spy, or that Burton kept a powerful radio transmitter connected to Moscow in their outhouse. They did not know that in her last espionage mission, Burton had infiltrated communist spies into a top-secret American intelligence operation parachting anti-Nazi agents into the Third Reich. But perhaps the most remarkable thing they did not know was that when Burton hopped onto her bike and pedaled away, she was heading to a countryside rendezvous with Klaus Fuchs, the nuclear physicist working on Britain's top secret atomic weapons program. Klaus was Burton's best agent, and together they were gathering the scientific secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build the bomb. Ben Macintyre's latest true-life spy story is a masterpiece about the woman code-named "Sonya," one of the most important female spies in history. Hunted by the Chinese, the Japanese, the Nazis, MI5, MI6, and the FBI, she evaded all of them, and survived as well the brutal Soviet purges that left many of her friends and colleagues dead. Her story reflects the great ideological clash of the twentieth century, between communism, fascism, and Western democracy, and casts new light on the spy battles and shifting allegiances of our own times. With access to Sonya's papers and her intelligence files from multiple countries, Macintyre has conjured a thrilling secret history of a landmark agent, a true original who altered the course of the Cold War and helped plunge the world into a nuclear standoff that would last for decades.
Agent Twister: The True Story Behind the Scandal that Gripped the Nation
by Philip Augar Keely WinstoneHe lived a double-life in the sixtiesFaked his own death in the seventiesAnd retained his cover in the eighties A period thriller with powerful political and espionage themes, Agent Twister is the remarkable story behind one of the greatest scandals of the 1970s, told in full for the first time. If you think you know the true story of John Stonehouse – think again.It&’s November 1974 and John Stonehouse MP, once a star in Harold Wilson&’s Labour government, is missing in Miami, presumed drowned. His disappearance exposes the most lurid details of his life, including identity fraud, corporate corruption, a love triangle, blackmail, links with the Mafia and a decade-long career as a Soviet spy. The public are gripped by this story, happy to forget the strikes, IRA bombs and rising prices that are making daily life a misery. On Christmas Eve, Stonehouse is tracked down in Melbourne, Australia, where he is suspected of being that other missing Englishman, Lord Lucan. The comic absurdity of the story is offset by claims of a mental breakdown and a refusal to resign as an MP, even when he is extradited back to the UK and up on charges at the Old Bailey. For the first time, Agent Twister reveals the corporate crimes at the heart of Stonehouse&’s business empire, the true extent of his ten-year collusion with powerful Soviet proxies and the political consequences of his antics. It&’s a scandal greater than Profumo that lay buried for thirty years, with three prime ministers – Wilson, Callaghan and Thatcher – covering it up for very different reasons. Written by the makers of the Channel Four documentary The Spy Who Died Twice, Agent Twister is the first impartial account to put this extraordinary scandal in political context and reveal why John Stonehouse really disappeared.
Agent Zero
by Lilith SaintcrowAn agent risks everything for a love he shouldn't feel in New York Times bestselling author Lilith Saintcrow's thrilling new romance! After barely surviving an IED, former US Army soldier Reese was whisked away by a shadowy agency and genetically enhanced. Now a "Super Agent"-smarter, faster, stronger, deadly-Reese executes his missions with precision. But when he's inexplicably drawn to a down-on-her-luck waitress, Reese learns he's not the emotionless man he once thought. One minute, Holly Candless is getting fifty-buck tips from her favorite hunky customer. The next, she's kidnapped, injected with something and rescued by Reese. Suddenly, they're on the run from the very government agency that wants Reese reprogrammed-and Holly dead. Keeping Holly alive is not only Reese's primary mission-it's his sole chance at love...and survival.
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
by Ben MacintyreFor readers of World War II history, espionage, fans of John le Carré and Alan Furst, and of Ben Macintyre's more recent books. Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. In 1941, after training as German spy in occupied France, Chapman was parachuted into Britain with a revolver, a wireless, and a cyanide pill, with orders from the Abwehr to blow up an airplane factory. Instead, he contacted M15, the British Secret service, and for the next four years, Chapman worked as a double agent, a lone British spy at the heart of the German Secret Service. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside the villain was a hero. The problem for Chapman, his spymasters, and his lovers was to know where one persona ended and the other began. Based on recently declassified files, Agent Zigzag tells Chapman's full story for the first time. It's a gripping tale of loyalty, love, treachery, espionage, and the thin and shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
by Ben Macintyre&“Ben Macintyre&’s rollicking, spellbinding Agent Zigzag blends the spy-versus-spy machinations of John le Carré with the high farce of Evelyn Waugh.&”—William Grimes, The New York Times (Editors&’ Choice) &“Wildly improbable but entirely true . . . [a] compellingly cinematic spy thriller with verve.&”—Entertainment WeeklyONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Entertainment WeeklyONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington PostEddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. In 1941, after training as German spy in occupied France, Chapman was parachuted into Britain with a revolver, a wireless, and a cyanide pill, with orders from the Abwehr to blow up an airplane factory. Instead, he contacted M15, the British Secret service, and for the next four years, Chapman worked as a double agent, a lone British spy at the heart of the German Secret Service. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside the villain was a hero. The problem for Chapman, his spymasters, and his lovers was to know where one persona ended and the other began. Based on recently declassified files, Agent Zigzag tells Chapman&’s full story for the first time. It&’s a gripping tale of loyalty, love, treachery, espionage, and the thin and shifting line between fidelity and betrayal.
La agente nazi Eva Perón y el tesoro de Hitler: Los archivos desclasificados del FBI de Hoover. La trama de acuerdos y traiciones entre la Alemania nazi y la Argentina de Juan Domingo Perón
by Marcelo Damian GarcíaUn recorrido por las relaciones entre Juan Domingo Perón, Eva Duarte y el nazismo alemán tras la derrota, avalado por las investigaciones que mandó a realizar Hoover al frente del FBI. Con la debacle nazi consumada, el tablero de la política internacional comienza a reacomodarse. Mientras Adolf Hitler, en el exilio, pierde fuerza e influencia, Juan Domingo Perón -alentado por las circunstancias- se propone erigir a la Argentina como una nación rectora de Sudamérica, tomando la posta de la derrotada Alemania e intentando replicar su ímpetu expansionista en la región. ¿Cómo pretende Perón financiar sus planes de dominación? Mediante el expolio de las millonarias fortunas que fueron secuestradas por el nacionalsocialismo alemán y pacientemente trasladadas hasta Buenos Aires. Su mayor obstáculo será nadie menos que su propia esposa, Eva Duarte, quien pondrá en acción sus poderosas conexiones para salvaguardar esos tesoros. La agente nazi Eva Perón y el tesoro de Hitler nace del trabajo de investigación y consulta de cientos de documentos desclasificados -entre ellos, los de las pesquisas que mandó a hacer John Edgar Hoover cuando se encontraba al frente del FBI-, sobre los cuales el historiador Marcelo García construye una irresistible tesis destinada a entrelazar la inesperada y atrapante trama internacional de acuerdos y traiciones entre la Alemania nazi y la Argentina de Perón. El resultado de este enorme trabajo es un libro que revisa uno de los misterios más magnéticos del peronismo desde una perspectiva nueva: la de los conflictos de intereses entre sus dos más grandes figuras.
Agents of Bioterrorism: Pathogens and Their Weaponization
by Geoffrey ZubayThis new work offers a clear and thorough account of the threats posed by bioterrorism from the perspective of biologists. The authors examine thirteen disease-causing agents, including those responsible for anthrax, the plague, smallpox, influenza, and SARS. Each chapter considers a particular pathogen from the standpoint of its history, molecular biology, pathology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, weaponization, and defenses. The book also examines strategies for making vaccines and protecting the population in a bioterror attack.
Agents of Influence: A British Campaign, a Canadian Spy, and the Secret Plot to Bring America into World War II
by Henry HemmingThe astonishing story of the British spies who set out to draw America into World War IIAs World War II raged into its second year, Britain sought a powerful ally to join its cause-but the American public was sharply divided on the subject. Canadian-born MI6 officer William Stephenson, with his knowledge and influence in North America, was chosen to change their minds by any means necessary.In this extraordinary tale of foreign influence on American shores, Henry Hemming shows how Stephenson came to New York--hiring Canadian staffers to keep his operations secret--and flooded the American market with propaganda supporting Franklin Roosevelt and decrying Nazism. His chief opponent was Charles Lindbergh, an insurgent populist who campaigned under the slogan "America First" and had no interest in the war. This set up a shadow duel between Lindbergh and Stephenson, each trying to turn public opinion his way, with the lives of millions potentially on the line.
Agents of Influence: How the KGB Subverted Western Democracies
by Mark HollingsworthThere&’s no such thing as a former KGB man. Agents of Influence reveals the secret history of an intelligence agency gone out of control, accountable to no one but itself and intent on subverting Western politics on a near-inconceivable scale. In 1985, 1,300 KGB officers were stationed in the USA. The FBI only had 350 counter-intelligence officers. Since the early days of the Cold War, the KGB seduced parliamentarians and diplomats, infiltrated the highest echelons of the Civil Service, and planted fake news in papers across the world. More disturbingly, it never stopped. Putin is a KGB man through and through. Journalist Mark Hollingworth reveals how disinformation, kompromat and secret surveillance continue to play key roles in Russia&’s war with Ukraine. It seems frighteningly easy to destabilise Western democracy.
Agents of Influence (Star Trek: The Original Series)
by Dayton WardAn epic new Star Trek saga by New York Times bestselling author Dayton Ward set during the original Five-Year Mission!For years, Starfleet Intelligence agents have carried out undercover assignments deep within the Klingon Empire. Surgically altered and rigorously trained in Klingon culture, they operate in plain sight and without any direct support, while collecting information and infiltrating the highest levels of imperial power. Their actions have given Starfleet valuable insight into the inner workings of Klingon government and its relentless military apparatus.After three of Starfleet&’s longest serving agents fear exposure, they initiate emergency extraction procedures. Their planned rendezvous with the USS Endeavour goes awry, threatening to reveal their activities and the damaging intelligence they&’ve collected during their mission. Tasked by Starfleet to salvage the botched rescue attempt, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise must discover the truth behind a secret weapons experiment while avoiding an interstellar incident with the potential to ignite a new war between the Federation and one of its oldest adversaries.
Agents of Innovation
by John T. KuehnThe author examines the influence of the General Board of the U.S. Navy as an agent of innovation in the years between the world wars. A formal body established by the secretary of the Navy, the General Board served as the organizational nexus for the interaction between fleet design and the naval limitations imposed on the Navy by treaty. Particularly important, Kuehn argues, was the Board's role in implementing the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited naval armaments after 1922. Kuehn explains that the leadership of the Navy at large and the General Board in particular felt themselves especially constrained by Article XIX of the Washington Naval Treaty, which implemented a status quo on naval fortifications in the western Pacific.
The Agent's Surrender
by Kimberly Van MeterRival agents uncover a monstrous conspiracy From the moment they met, sparks had flown...and not the good kind. Agent Jane Fallon would rather chew nails than work with arrogant-and much too good-looking-Holden Archangelo. But, convinced his brother was no traitor, Holden had Jane's investigation reopened. And now Jane is forced to partner with him. As new leads come to light, Jane's certainty about the case is shaken. But the assassin's bullet whizzing past her head convinces her they are onto something. Jane's determined to keep things professional, but as the danger around them intensifies, so does the fierce attraction they try so hard to deny....
Aggression, Crime and International Security: Moral, Political and Legal Dimensions of International Relations (Contemporary Security Studies)
by Page WilsonAggression, Crime and International Security examines the concept of aggression in international relations and how it has been dealt with by international law and collective security organisations. This book analyses the evolution of the concept of aggression in international relations from World War I to the post-Rome Statute era. It charts the emergence of two competing visions of this notion: on the one hand, as a triggering mechanism for collective security enforcement among states, and, on the other, as an international crime giving rise to individual responsibility. The author argues that despite certain contemporary international trends suggesting a shift away from traditional, state-centric power structures towards a more cosmopolitan, globalized polity, the history of the concept of aggression demonstrates just how far away this is in reality. By examining aggression in theory and practice at the League of Nations, the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials, the United Nations, the conference establishing the Rome Statute, and beyond, the book reveals the recurring moral, political and legal challenges this concept poses - challenges which continue to be at the forefront of thinking about international relations today. This book will be of great interest to students of International Law, War Crimes, International Relations and Security Studies.
Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England
by Juliet BarkerWaged almost six centuries ago, the Battle of Agincourt still captivates. It is the classic underdog story, and generations have wondered how the English--outmanned by the French six to one--could have succeeded so bravely and brilliantly. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Juliet Barker paints a gripping narrative of the October 1415 clash between the outnumbered English archers and the heavily armored French knights. Populated with chivalrous heroes, dastardly spies, and a ferocious and bold king, AGINCOURT is as earthshaking as its subject--and confirms Juliet Barker's status as both a historian and a storyteller of the first rank.
Agincourt: My Family, the Battle and the Fight for France
by Ranulph Fiennes25 October 2015 was the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt - a hugely resonant event in English (and French) history. Sir Ranulph Fiennes casts new light on this epic event, revealing that three of his own ancestors fought in the battle for Henry V, and at least one for the French. This is a unique perspective on Agincourt from a trained and decorated soldier. Ran reveals the truth behind the myths and legends of the battle. He tells how after the battle Henry V entertained his senior commanders to dinner, where they were waited on by captured French knights. There is the story of Sir Piers Legge of Lyme Hall, who lay wounded in the mud while his mastiff dog fought off the French men-at-arms. Then there is the legend that the French intended to cut off the first and second right hand fingers of every captured archer, to prevent him from using his bow. The archers raised those two fingers to the advancing French as a gesture of defiance. In this gripping study Sir Ranulph Fiennes brings back to life these stories and more, including those of his own ancestors, in a celebration of a historical event integral to English identity.Fiennes, arguably our greatest explorer...has delved deep into history to tell the story of his family's epic journey. - The Times
Agincourt: My Family, the Battle and the Fight for France
by Ranulph Fiennes25 October 2015 was the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt - a hugely resonant event in English (and French) history. Sir Ranulph Fiennes casts new light on this epic event, revealing that three of his own ancestors fought in the battle for Henry V, and at least one for the French. This is a unique perspective on Agincourt from a trained and decorated soldier. Ran reveals the truth behind the myths and legends of the battle. He tells how after the battle Henry V entertained his senior commanders to dinner, where they were waited on by captured French knights. There is the story of Sir Piers Legge of Lyme Hall, who lay wounded in the mud while his mastiff dog fought off the French men-at-arms. Then there is the legend that the French intended to cut off the first and second right hand fingers of every captured archer, to prevent him from using his bow. The archers raised those two fingers to the advancing French as a gesture of defiance. In this gripping study Sir Ranulph Fiennes brings back to life these stories and more, including those of his own ancestors, in a celebration of a historical event integral to English identity.Fiennes, arguably our greatest explorer...has delved deep into history to tell the story of his family's epic journey. - The Times