Agent Sonya
Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy
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Agent Sonya
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Narrated by:
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Ben Macintyre
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By:
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Ben Macintyre
About this listen
The incredible story of the greatest female spy in history, from one of Britain's most acclaimed historians.
In the quiet Cotswolds village of Great Rollright in 1944, a thin and unusually elegant housewife emerged from her cottage to go on her usual bike ride. A devoted mother of three, attentive wife and friendly neighbour, Sonya Burton seemed to epitomise rural British domesticity.
However, rather than pedalling towards the shops with her ration book, Sonya was heading for the Oxfordshire countryside to gather scientific secrets from a nuclear physicist. Secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build the atomic bomb.
Far from an obedient homemaker, Sonya Burton was a dedicated communist, a decorated colonel and a veteran spy who risked her life to keep the Soviet Union in the nuclear arms race. Her husband was also a Soviet agent, and her children had three different fathers from lovers she'd encountered throughout her incredible career.
In Agent Sonya, Ben Macintyre reveals the astonishing story behind the most important woman spy in history and the huge emotional cost that came with being a mother, a wife and a secret agent at once.
©2020 Ben MacIntyre (P)2020 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Agent Sonya
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S. Simpson
- 16-10-20
Convincingly authentic and great read
Accurately gets under the skin of a real anti-fascist intelligence drama, danger, commitment and family over 20 years.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan Cunningham
- 30-09-20
Interesting story
An interesting story and will be liked by all spy fans, however not his best.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- merlin d magician
- 19-02-21
incredible........ what an amazing tale!
this is an amazing journey into the life and world of agent Sonya aka Ursula Burton...... for the first time I have been able to understand how the cold war espionage war began out of the ashes of ww2s intense spy games.........well written, and well narrated by the author......enjoy able and fascinating up till the very end.....
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- CJB565
- 06-02-21
Highly recommended
Excellent book well read by the author - it provides a rich insight into geopolitics in the 1930s and 1940s as well an introduction to the Cold War
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mike
- 11-07-21
Excellent
Macintyre brings forth another well researched and well told history of espionage and the world that not only tells a new story but intertwined with his previous works such as his account of Kim Philby.
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- L&J W.
- 08-03-24
A compelling listen
An extraordinary true story of bravery, humanity and an unbending loyalty to a cause. Thoroughly researched and very well told.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- LondonLass
- 29-07-21
Solid research, fascinating story, well told.
This is a story of a person for whom I have no respect and who I think deserved far worse than she got out of life. However the research was good. The writing was marvellous. The story was engagingly told - and there were many characters, It could have been impossibly complicated. Macintyre is a real artist in the way he relates the events. I am especially impressed with his almost superhuman self-control when outlining Sonya's treachery to the country which gave her sanctuary. I'm sure I would have descended to criticism at that point. Despite how angry it made me, I'm glad I listened to this. Not a minute was wasted.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- SC
- 29-05-21
Superb
A real life spy story with twists and turns that match any spy thriller novel
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Traverso
- 23-10-21
Gripping
Macintyre really knows how to spin a yarn and make the most of the incredible stories he has to tell. One suspects that he embellishes the bare facts quite a bit but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment.
There are a few inaccuracies, and as in some of his other books he has his protagonists listening to transistor radios in the 1920s or 30s - at least a decade before the transistor was invented.
Those niggles aside, a great book and well worth listening to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mr. R. Taylor
- 26-10-22
Sonys Spy
This is a account of a Russian agent who spied at many place in the world. There is so much details that at times thought of giving up reading it but it was worth staying with it to the end
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