The Spy Who Loved: the secrets and lives of one of Britain's bravest wartime heroines

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told him that the Allies would be arriving at any moment and that she, a British parachutist, was in constant wireless contact with the British forces. Skarbek biographer Clare Mulley, however, wrote that, "if Christine was immortalised as the carelessly beautiful double agent Vesper Lynd, Fleming is more likely to have been inspired by the stories he heard than the woman in person. She feigned symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis by biting her tongue until it bled and a doctor diagnosed her incorrectly with terminal tuberculosis. In January 1942, Stefania was arrested by the Germans as a Jew and disappeared into Warsaw's Pawiak prison.

By this point she was keen to become a British citizen, however the application process was slow and she would have to wait until 1949. During her stay in Poland, Krystyna Skarbek got hold of the documents with the day of the Nazi invasion on USRR. They became lovers and soulmates, and remained so off and on – despite her many other lovers – for the rest of her life. Her superiors had suddenly remembered that she spoke perfect French, which is why she was airdropped in France under the name of Pauline Armand on 6 July 1944. Skarbek was distantly related to the Hungarian regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy, as a cousin from the Lwów side of the family had married a relative of Horthy.

She was the first female agent of the British to serve in the field and the longest-serving of all Britain's wartime women agents.

More importantly, the intelligence she gathered in her espionage was a significant contribution to the Allied war effort, and she was awarded the George Medal, the OBE, and the Croix de Guerre.A year later, to her mother’s displeasure, Krystyna moved to Africa with her husband, who was offered a position at the Polish embassy in Abyssinia. Each strand of history I wanted to represent was filtered through not only Kasia, but her sister, her friends in Poland, Hugo and Elodie, amongst others. On the morning of 14 July came a daylight drop of light arms and supplies from 72 American B-17s, the largest single-day airdrop to the maquis during World War II. The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville, Britain's first female special agent of the Second World War. Christine Granville was buried in a Roman Catholic cemetery in London a few days after her death, leaving behind a great legacy.

A brilliant account of a remarkable woman, one of those countless people often reduced to footnotes in larger broader histoory boos who deserve books on their own. Her activities however had been noted by the relevant authorities and a reward for her capture was offered across Poland. Her charisma and charm seemed to captivate all who encountered her, earning her the admiration of countless men. Upon the outbreak of World War II, the couple sailed for London, arriving 6 October 1939, where Skarbek sought to offer her services in the struggle against the common enemy. In July 1944, she parachuted into France to join the resistance in the Vercors region as lieutenant to Francis Cammaerts – one of Britain’s top agents and the key leader in that area.I, as an author of historical fiction, with my choice between the truth and the real, aimed to portray a rounded picture of the past, one which demonstrates that the history of a private life is just as important as the history of public life. In early 1945, Skarbek and Kowerski were to be airdropped into Poland as part of Operation Freston, which was ultimately cancelled.