Spymistress

The True Story of the Greatest Female Secret Agent of World War II

By: William Stevenson

Narrated by: Nicholas Camm

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A rousing tale of espionage and unsung valor, this is the captivating true story of Vera Atkins, Great Britain's spymistress from the age of 25. With her fierce intelligence, blunt manner, personal courage, and exceptional informants, Vera ran countless missions throughout the 1930s. After rising to the leadership echelon in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a covert intelligence agency formed by Winston Churchill, she became head of a clandestine army in World War II. Her team went deep behind enemy lines, linked up with resistance fighters, destroyed vital targets, helped Allied pilots escape capture, assassinated German soldiers, and radioed information back to London. As the biographer of her mentor in the SOE, William Stevenson was the only person Vera Atkins trusted to record her story.

©2007, 2011 William Stevenson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

incredible

encyclopedic who's who of the F branch of the SOE....a bible for French resistance genre addicts...dive in, come up with respect...fabulous narration as well

Hard to follow

Not a true chronological narrative... jumps around quite a bit... hard to follow, but some very interesting and disturbing facts presented.

History as it should be told.

Wonderful look into the real world of spying and the reality and necessity of living and being the working underbelly of war. I found the agents ingenuity, stamina, patriotism, honor and intelligence awe inspiring. The author finely recognizes the young, brave spies and gives credit where credit is long overdue.
It does my heart good to read of the brave souls of Poland that fought so hard ( and have done so throughout history ) for their country.
Who knew Miss Money Penny was real or that James Bond's gadgets were actually used during WW ll?
This VERY well researched, well written book deserved a narrator with a more expressive and enthusiastic presentation.
Very much worth listening to for the treasure trove of information but very monotone in narration. I'm going to listen to it again though!

Enlightening

I didn't realize how many female spies there were, or how entrenched they had become. I guess that is the only way women could really go into battle back then. Not to take anything from the Wasp on medical teams.

Amazing- Helps Make up for Misogyny in Time of War

Loved this! Had known nothing of this brilliant woman.
About time her genius was celebrated.
If they had stars on the wall in England, like at CIA she would deserve three.

Narrator's matter-of-fact voice makes her accomplishments more dramatic.

She won WWII, despite British priggery

This book reveals the rarely seen dimension of the British SOE which made something from nothing in the course of defeating the Nazis. Regardless of British bureaucratic 5th column acts born of envy and Communist machinations, Vera (Goldberg) Atkins used any and every avenue to achieve success by clandestine means.

I was left marveling at the cast of characters, from Chuck Yeager to William E. Colby, who crossed her path and even worked beside her, as well as those post-war leaders who obstructed SOE’s efforts and obliterated SOE’s achievements.

What we call courage, she called integrity, and our children will be bitter that we confuse those words.

For those well versed in WWII history

The story is fascinating though it jumps around a lot, following people and events rather than chronology. But it offered much I didn’t know about the “close work” clandestine operations and the people who gave their life, and for many their lives to a noble cause. The brutality of the war on civilians is hard to take, but that part must be recognized. The indifference to the Jews and rampant antisemitism at the war’s end continues to play out even today. Vera Atkinson is a woman to honor. But I agree the narrator is monotone, but you can get past it.

Boring!

i love spy stories that take place in. WWII, but this had little to offer and the narrator spoke too fast and with no inflection.

Not a biography

has other people have indicated, this is not a biography of the spy mistress. This is more of a wave tip history of spying during world war II. Vera's name is briefly mentioned with these activities. If you're looking for a book about Vera herself you need to look someplace else.

Great Story - Unfortunately Monotone Performance

What made the experience of listening to Spymistress the most enjoyable?

The story itself. And the writing was brisk and informative.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Why, the Spymistress, of course

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Really a one tone narrator. Very little inflection. It was, literally, mono-tonous. It is really too bad because the story is very interesting, and one that needs to be told. It is quite remarkable that this performance was 'approved' by editors/directors. Sentence after sentence delivered with the same intonation contours. It becomes almost impossible to distinguish given and new information.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Only a strong reaction to the performance. I like the narrator's accent, but his lack of any kind of variation in delivery made listening a challenge.

Any additional comments?

I finished the book because I wanted to hear the story. And it was well told, just not narrated very well at all.