Книга Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan
This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of an Indian prince, Tipu Sultan (the Tiger of Mysore), who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II. Noor was one of only three women SOE agents awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing, not even her real name.
‘One of the most inspirational stories of World War II … Reading this book is like watching a butterfly trapped in a net.’ – Daily Mail
This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of an Indian prince, Tipu Sultan (the Tiger of Mysore), who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II.
In this updated twentieth-anniversary edition of Spy Princess, Shrabani Basu tells the moving story of Noor’s life, from her birth in Moscow – where her father was a Sufi preacher – to her capture by the Germans. Noor was one of only three women SOE agents awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing, not even her real name.
Kept in solitary confinement, her hands and feet chained together, Noor was starved and beaten, but the Germans could not break her spirit. Ten months after she was captured, she was taken to Dachau concentration camp and, on 13 September 1944, she was shot. Her last word was ‘Liberté’.
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‘Shrabani Basu has pieced together Noor’s story more fully and reliably than ever before … Thanks to her book, a new generation can grasp what Noor did, and how she did it, with much greater clarity.’
" - The Independent"
‘Sixty years after her death at the hands of the Nazis … the book reveals the life of the war hero that Britain forgot.’
" - Eastern Eye"
‘Her thrilling but sad story is told in this book.’
" - Daily Express"
‘This is a story that deserves retelling almost sixty years after the award of a posthumous George Cross … a welcome addition to a field of study that will doubtless continue.’
" - Times Literary Supplement"
‘This moving book tells a powerful, sad story about a girl who found it impossible to remain just a girl.’
" - Hindustan Times"
‘This is an absorbing true story … the story of a gentle Indian girl in brutal captivity has never been researched so completely.’
" - Outlook magazine"
‘Shrabani Basu pieces together Noor’s life and brings to India a forgotten daughter.’
" - The Hindu"
‘The book makes for compelling reading. Its sensitive narrative makes it a gripping account.’
" - The Asian Age