Christine : SOE Agent & Churchill's Favourite Spy

This book was a challenge- it was replete with dates and facts and unpronounceable names that appeared and disappeared without indicating relevance. It is historical but not interesting. Drudgery to wade through the praises of a woman who still is a mystery because she drowned in a sea of words, words, words. I really dislike the writing style and the story lacked any element of entertainment.

There are always people who rise up to help in times of war, putting their lives on the line. This lady was no exception. It is a shame that the history books never profile the many that gave so much to ensure our freedom. The book arrived in excellent condition, with great packaging and with in a promised time frame. I will purchase here again.

Author Madeleine Masson's book, first published in 1975, pulses not only with the story of Christine Granville's harrowing experience as a British spy, but with Masson's own experience in tracking down the evidence that tells the story of Christine's life and eventual death. The writing is tight and descriptive. I haven't yet read the "new" Christine book, but this one is fascinating.

Book is in perfect condition, but the story was not as interesting as some of the other spy stories.

Too much detail about the spy network. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book. Made these super spies into "regular people." Gets a little tedious at times.

Excellent. The best true story I have everread. Incredible person and fearless in times of danger. Will read the book again.More interesting also is that the writeractually met Christine on a trip after thewar.

Great service.A wartime tale which seems unbelievable till you realise this is an actual true story of someone's life under extreme conditions.Fascinating and inspiring!

Excellently researched. But the heroine does not emerge. Too many ancillary facts. A map of the Vercours and of the Balkans would help the average geography challenged reader.

this is the original book about Christine.. she was a heroand bravest of the brave. I have seen her file in the NA andits awesome what she did.This is the best book about her as the other, later, book has moreof less the same content, but with important things left out.She came to a sticky end, sadly and did not have the best treatment forall her bravery from British . We should not forget what so many bravepeople did for our country in WW2 .. she is one of them.

just 3 days ago I went down a Google rabbit hole looking for women of ww2 who weren’t anything but nurses, but women who were important to the war and in as much danger as the men, that’s when I came across Krystyna! Having read numerous “historical” articles written by men I became increasingly disheartened at the fact they relentlessly spoke of her good looks and constantly made presumptions and suggestions of her being lovers with any man that would talk to her, what’s worse was the constant repetitive talk of her “probably” been a lover of the man that would end her life, simply because she showed him kindness. And so I searched Amazon to see if any books of validity had been written and to my excitement I found this. I’m the first to admit I have a habit of buying books and being bored quickly, with adhd I have a hard time staying focused so I hoped I could manage to read this.With the articles I had previously read I already felt an obsession with Miss Skarbek and had even felt an adoration for her, funnily enough this was clearly a running theme to all who met her. Yesterday evening I opened the book fully intending to read a few pages and continue this every evening before bed. However, this wasn’t meant to be and once I began reading I couldn’t put it down! This book details so much with the help of two of her closest friends during the war years. In all aspects of her personality and being she seemed able to effortlessly and naturally be at both sides of the table. She was stubborn in her thoughts and wants yet was willing to listen to those who cared (however not always). She lived for the danger of the war yet despised the idea of killing anyone, even if they deserved it. She was fiercely intelligent and observant. She didn’t suffer fools but was very kind and empathetic. She was a magnet to everyone who met her and her abilities had no peak. She was an extremely important cog in the war machine and yet so many don’t know her at all. There is so much about her I can’t even describe. And yet she was so modest of her achievements, it’s clear everything she did she either did for herself or for those she cared for most. Her resilience is inspiring and nothing I say here will even do her very being justice. Madeline and krystynas friends have done an amazing job of describing the events of her life without exaggeration and whilst the events feel like something from a film it’s hard not to believe it.As I knew of how she died when it came to the end of the book I began to well up. In my heart I wanted to close the book and pretend It didn’t happen but I continued reading feeling as if I were there as it happened.This book is a must read and you won’t be disappointed! My only disappointment I found with this book is the disappointment of my own country. She did so much for this country and yet she was discarded with and as if that wasn’t enough she was stateless.Whilst I’m not religious I genuinely hope there is a god because she deserves the highest position available in those pearly gates with Andrew by her side!

Fascinating insight to the spy network in the ww2. However a difficult read , it was more of a documentary than a story and the British Government were lacking in support of Christine , they were appalling

Christine Granville, an amazing woman who died in a ridiculous way. The author writes in a detailed and compelling way about Christine. One can only marvel at the amount of research that must have gone into this book.Two amazing women, one writing about the other.

This was not your normal type of biography was a bit in depth of what was going on but didn't to me cover her missions in any detail. I found it a bit slow and in parts hard going.