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| The Beautiful Spy: The Life and Crimes of Vera Eriksen by David Tremain (cover from The History Press site) |
The blurb notes:
Often described as ‘the most beautiful spy’, Vera Eriksen could almost rival First World War spy Mata Hari and the various ‘Bond girls’ who followed her. Perhaps the archetypal ‘femme fatale’ of the Second World War, her story is less well-known than it should be. Like most spies, nothing about her background is clear-cut, or straightforward. Many of the facts surrounding her life are contradictory; some are speculation, or simply fantasy; the rest have been expunged from her files, and few can be verified absolutely. The reasons why have remained hidden to this day and may never be uncovered. Yet in spite of her alleged involvement in espionage, she was a somewhat tragic figure who was yearning for a lost love. When she set out on her spying mission in September 1940, the love of her life had just been killed. It is a story shrouded in mystery and intrigue, and clouded by the mists of time. Even her fate at the hands of British Intelligence was contentious. We will probably never know who the real Vera was or who she became in later life. It suited her to be enigmatic – and that is the way she will remain.Vera was one of the spies who landed on the Banffshire coast in late September 1940. She was accompanied by Karl Theodore Druecke and Werner Walti (likely an alias). The three spies were apprehended quickly and send down to Camp 020 for interrogation. While Druecke and Walti were hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 6 August 1941, the fate of Vera remains a mystery. Was she repatriated back to Germany at the end of the war? Did she die there a few years later? Or was she given a new identity and sent off to the Isle of Wight to live her life in obscurity? Can't wait to read this book!
It's going to be released 1 February 2019 in the United Kingdom... which means it might make it across the Atlantic by the summer of 2019.
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