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Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy
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In 1942, in a quiet village in the leafy English Cotswolds, a thin, elegant woman lived in a small cottage with her three children and her husband, who worked as a machinist nearby. Ursula Burton was friendly but reserved, and spoke English with a slight foreign accent. By all accounts, she seemed to be living a simple, unassuming life. Her neighbors in the village knew li
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Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
September 15th 2020
by Crown Publishing Group (NY)
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Start your review of Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy
An Entertaining and thrilling story of one woman’s life as a spy for the Soviet Union. A Non fiction story that reads like fiction
Born to a German Jewish family, Ursula Kaczynski was a German communist activist who worked for the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s. From planning an assassination attempt on Hitler in Switzerland to spying on the Japanese in Manchuria to preventing nuclear war (or so she says) by stealing the science of atomic weaponry from Britain to give to Moscow.
I really e ...more
Ben Macintyre is a badass writer of narrative nonfiction about lesser known historical figures from the World War II era. I read and reviewed his blockbuster, A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, which was published in 2014; when I was invited to do the same for Agent Sonya, I didn’t hesitate. My thanks go to Net Galley and Crown Publishing for the review copy. You can buy this book now.
Her real name was Ursula Kuczynski, and she was a German Jew. Hitler came to full power wh ...more
Her real name was Ursula Kuczynski, and she was a German Jew. Hitler came to full power wh ...more
A great biography about a fascinating woman!
Aug 04, 2020
Maine Colonial
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
favorite-authors,
world-war-ii,
arc-or-digital-galley,
history,
nonfiction,
espionage,
cold-war,
memorable
I received a free digital advance reviewing copy from the publisher, via Netgalley.
Ben Macintyre has done it again; produced a jaw-dropping book about 20th-century espionage. Sonya, born Ursula Kuczynski, lived a long life in service to the causes of anti-fascism and communism, starting 10 years before the Russian Revolution and extending decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Her travels and accomplishments would be unbelievable as fiction. As ...more
Ben Macintyre has done it again; produced a jaw-dropping book about 20th-century espionage. Sonya, born Ursula Kuczynski, lived a long life in service to the causes of anti-fascism and communism, starting 10 years before the Russian Revolution and extending decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Her travels and accomplishments would be unbelievable as fiction. As ...more
4+ stars
I can't imagine being Sonya! What a life! "Sonya" is the code name for a woman of German Jewish descent who was enlisted as a Soviet spy in her 20s. She lived in China, the Soviet Union and Switzerland and ended up living in England for several years, seemingly as an English housewife, but meanwhile passing important secrets to the Soviets. Later in life, she lived in East Germany, where she became a children's author. Meanwhile, she had three children, none of them knowing her backgroun ...more
I can't imagine being Sonya! What a life! "Sonya" is the code name for a woman of German Jewish descent who was enlisted as a Soviet spy in her 20s. She lived in China, the Soviet Union and Switzerland and ended up living in England for several years, seemingly as an English housewife, but meanwhile passing important secrets to the Soviets. Later in life, she lived in East Germany, where she became a children's author. Meanwhile, she had three children, none of them knowing her backgroun ...more
Although 'Sonya' is the main subject of the book her two husbands and Richard Sorge are also significant characters and this adds a new dimension to this wonderful account. I have enjoyed all of Macintyre's books and like his journalism but I think this is his finest achievement to date. He has the gift of a conversational style which manages to convey facts easily but without being trite or facile. A great gift.
Sonya spied in China and Switzerland but her big hit was when she operated from a ...more
Sonya spied in China and Switzerland but her big hit was when she operated from a ...more
Ben Macintyre has done it again! I’ll officially follow this author anywhere, this is not just one of my favourite books of the year but potentially one of my favourites of all time. Ursula Kuczynski lived an incredible life, and le Carré’s maxim about spies being the reflection of their country’s soul has never been truer. Highly, highly recommended.
This is the 3rd book by Ben Macintyre that I have read, and I consider all three of those as exceptional works of non-fiction.
If you are interested in real-life spies and their spycraft, you can't go wrong with Ben Macintyre. ...more
Ben MacIntyre is one of the most prolific producers of nonfiction books about espionage in the English language. Of the thirteen books he’s written to date, nearly all are about spies, saboteurs, and partisans, and five of those books have been made into documentaries by the BBC. In his latest venture, MacIntyre tells the tale of an extraordinary Soviet spy in World War II, a German-Jewish Communist named Ursula Kuczynski (1907-2000). During her nearly two decades as an officer of Soviet militar
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In this age of demagogy and liberal use of truth, it is easy to forget that not very long ago, people actually carried beliefs in various political ideologies, and some politicians made decisions according to ideology rather than according to what's in their best interests. In view of the current political climate, this may seem like a positive thing, but the story of the 20th century proves it wrong. Taken to the extreme, ideologies are no less dangerous than political opportunism.
This is the ...more
This is the ...more
Another corker by Ben Macintyre. I have to wonder if I'm being unfair by giving this only four stars, but I have to maintain rank around the amazingly five-star The Spy and the Traitor.
In this book, an ambiguously cosmopolitan woman spies for the Soviets and secretly rises to a high rank in the Red Army, while appearing to be an expat housewife and mother. We have the usual near misses and amazing escapes here, but a big part of the fun is seeing Ursula alias Sonya run circles around clueless of ...more
In this book, an ambiguously cosmopolitan woman spies for the Soviets and secretly rises to a high rank in the Red Army, while appearing to be an expat housewife and mother. We have the usual near misses and amazing escapes here, but a big part of the fun is seeing Ursula alias Sonya run circles around clueless of ...more
Ben Macintyre writes the best spy biographies! This particular spy, Ursula Burton (alias Sonya) started out in Germany resisting the fascists and ended up being a spy for the Soviet Union in many parts of the world. She was definitely dedicated to her beliefs, sometimes even giving up her children for lengthy periods of time. While I admire her for her dedication, I don’t think she was all that great of a person.
Macintyre follows Sonya’s journeys around the world, the comrades she encountered, a ...more
Macintyre follows Sonya’s journeys around the world, the comrades she encountered, a ...more
Potent insight to key events in, around and after WWII. A large cast of players and changing loyalties require the reader to be on his/her toes. Terrific writing on the spycraft and how agents dealt with the pressure.
3.5. Stunning account of a sprawling life. Macintyre is a gifted narrative-nonfiction writer. (This one is better than “Rogue Heroes,” but not as good as “The Spy and the Traitor,” since it lacks the heart-stopping element.)
The daring wartime exploits of Ursula Kuczynski (aka Ursula Hamburger aka Ursula Beurton aka Agent Sonya aka novelist Ruth Werner) bear certain resemblance to those of Virginia Hall, the heroine of Sonia Parnell’s “A Woman of No Importance.” The two books are good companion r ...more
The daring wartime exploits of Ursula Kuczynski (aka Ursula Hamburger aka Ursula Beurton aka Agent Sonya aka novelist Ruth Werner) bear certain resemblance to those of Virginia Hall, the heroine of Sonia Parnell’s “A Woman of No Importance.” The two books are good companion r ...more
MacIntyre’s best work. One woman’s amazing life masterfully told. The greatest World War II story I’d never heard of.
Perhaps the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year.
Perhaps the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year.
Mother, Lover, Spy
Agent Sonya is the story of Ursula Kuczynski. Sonya grew up in a home of communist sympathizers. She embraced communism at an early age becoming a spy for the Soviet Union.
She spied for the Soviet Union in Switzerland, Shanghai China, and the United Kingdom. Married more than once, having lovers and children by 3 men, she often struggled with being a mother and a spy. She used her marriage and her children in her spy work. She often hid items for her spy activities in a baby ca ...more
Agent Sonya is the story of Ursula Kuczynski. Sonya grew up in a home of communist sympathizers. She embraced communism at an early age becoming a spy for the Soviet Union.
She spied for the Soviet Union in Switzerland, Shanghai China, and the United Kingdom. Married more than once, having lovers and children by 3 men, she often struggled with being a mother and a spy. She used her marriage and her children in her spy work. She often hid items for her spy activities in a baby ca ...more
The captivating story of Ursula Kuczynski.
The undercover agent who travelled the world with kids in tow, fooled MI5 and conveyed atomic confidential information to the USSR. It’s an appealing story, well suited to Ben Macintyre, the acclaimed author of fast-paced books about mid-century spies.
...more
The undercover agent who travelled the world with kids in tow, fooled MI5 and conveyed atomic confidential information to the USSR. It’s an appealing story, well suited to Ben Macintyre, the acclaimed author of fast-paced books about mid-century spies.
...more
What can you say about this thrilling book except to say it's the best so far from the pen of Ben Macintyre who has never put a foot wrong.
You couldn't make it up as they say, this biography of surely one of the most dedicated and successful spies of all time who it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say changed the course of history. Sonya was a German Jew who plied her trade on behalf of the USSR in China,Switzerland and Great Britain. She was a dedicated Communist, brilliant exponent of the art o ...more
You couldn't make it up as they say, this biography of surely one of the most dedicated and successful spies of all time who it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say changed the course of history. Sonya was a German Jew who plied her trade on behalf of the USSR in China,Switzerland and Great Britain. She was a dedicated Communist, brilliant exponent of the art o ...more
Ursula Kuczynski (aka Agent Sonya) was like an unstoppable force of nature. As a young girl in pre World War II Germany she devoted herself to the Communist Party, maintaining that loyalty throughout her life. And what a life it was. Moving to Shanghai as a young wife and mother she was recruited to spy against an occupying Japanese power. They were dangerous times and Ursula placed herself directly in the line of fire. Eventually the Soviets took notice of Ursula's talents and trained her in th
...more
I finally after ten years on Goodreads received this as a free giveaway book. Ben MacIntyre never disappoints. Masterful and fascinating account of a woman whom we’ve never heard of but who had a disproportionate effect on the history of the 20th Century. She put into play a serious plot to assassinate Hitler while based in Switzerland. It would have succeeded too if it had not been for the signing of the nonaggression pact and her handlers telling her to stand down. The Soviet’s infiltration of
...more
I continue to enjoy Macintyre's books. They are thoroughly researched and engagingly written. I often find them hard to put down.
One of the things I enjoyed most in this book was the theme of gender, and how stereotypes and biases often got in the way of those trying to hunt down Ursula/Sonya. Multiple times she was written off by those pursuing Soviet spies because she was "just a housewife" and it was thought that she could not be or do more than that.
Similarly, one of the top communist/spy h ...more
One of the things I enjoyed most in this book was the theme of gender, and how stereotypes and biases often got in the way of those trying to hunt down Ursula/Sonya. Multiple times she was written off by those pursuing Soviet spies because she was "just a housewife" and it was thought that she could not be or do more than that.
Similarly, one of the top communist/spy h ...more
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This is an amazing non-fiction book that has the emotional detail of a novel. Sonya life winds through the history of the Weimar Republic, China during the Japanese occupation, Switzerland in the middle of WWII, and England during and after the war. It is steeped in the ideological issues of the day: communism, fascism, and freedom. You won't be able to put it down.
...more
A fascinating tale of a spy who spies purely out of ideology. This means that she is out of step in German when she's anti-socialism (1920s), out of step in China when she's pure communist, out of step in England when she's, er, pure communist. Over the course of her life, Ursula Kuczynski Hamburger Beurton is consistent only about one thing: she puts the cause before self, and before family. It means that she leaves her son to attend training in Moscow, and puts her children in board school whe
...more
Ben MacIntyre’s historical works read like fiction. They’re hard to put down and guide the reader through the complex web of characters and dates without ever getting boring or tedious. I was spellbound by Ursula/Sonya’s story. Highly recommend!
I read Ben Macintyre’s “Spy and the Traitor” and really liked it for the true life espionage story that read like a fast paced fiction novel. “Agent Sonya” is just about as good, it’s a tale of a remarkable woman (and many men) who works against Nazism and later spies against the West for the Soviet Union. I found it a little harder to follow at times due to the large cast of characters, but it’s still a fascinating story and you’ll be amazed at how consequential her work (and that of several of
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It was a bit slow to pick up, but about half way through I couldn't put it down. Such an engaging story, it kept me on the edge of my seat.
...more
Finished Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy by Ben Macintyre, the British historian and writer. I’ve been hooked on Macintyre’s books since Operation Mincemeat written in 2010. Agent Sonya is the fascinating account of a master Soviet spy who worked in China, Poland, Switzerland and England on behalf of the Russian spy agency, the GRU. It’s remarkable that she conducted her spy work while raising three children under the guise of housewife. Her ultimate achievement was the case management
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A little tedious in the beginning but ultimately very interesting to see how the arms race heated up at the end of WWII.
I honestly don't know how to rate this book. I liked it well enough but it wasn't what I was expecting? I thought it would be more along the lines of The Spy and the Traitor by the same author, which I really enjoyed. I found this book very dry in comparison and read much more like a history book than the previous book of his that I read.
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“Every spymaster’s ambition is to infiltrate a spy into the enemy’s intelligence service. The Soviets had successfully done this in MI6, with Kim Philby, and MI5, with Anthony Blunt. Here was Ursula’s opportunity to plant not just one but several of her own agents inside the American intelligence service, on a top secret mission. On Moscow’s instructions, she compiled a list of reliable German communists in Britain who might be prepared to work as spies for the Americans, but also willing to pass every scrap of information on to the Center. The Faust spies would be agents of American intelligence spying on Nazi Germany, but in reality double agents working for Ursula Kuczynski of the Red Army. In”
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