A Life in Secrets
Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII
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Narrated by:
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Nicola Barber
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By:
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Sarah Helm
About this listen
From an award-winning journalist comes this real-life cloak-and-dagger tale of Vera Atkins, one of Britain’s premiere secret agents during World War II.
As the head of the French Section of the British Special Operations Executive, Vera Atkins recruited, trained, and mentored special operatives whose job was to organize and arm the resistance in Nazi-occupied France. After the war, Atkins courageously committed herself to a dangerous search for 12 of her most cherished women spies who had gone missing in action. Drawing on previously unavailable sources, Sarah Helm chronicles Atkins’s extraordinary life and her singular journey through the chaos of post-war Europe.
Brimming with intrigue, heroics, honor, and the horrors of war, A Life in Secrets is the story of a grand, elusive woman and a tour de force of investigative journalism.
©2008 Sarah Helm (P)2018 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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“Brilliant...One can only admire the way that Helm put together all the pieces of the puzzle.” (The Washington Post)
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Operation Columba - The Secret Pigeon Service
- The Untold Story of World War II Resistance in Europe
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Gordon Corera uses declassified documents and extensive original research to tell the story of the Operation Columba and the Secret Pigeon Service for the first time. A tale of wartime espionage, bitter rivalries, extraordinary courage, astonishing betrayal, harrowing tragedy, and a quirky, quarrelsome band of spy masters and their special mission, Operation Columba opens a fascinating new chapter in the annals of World War II. It is ultimately, the story of how, in one of the darkest and most dangerous times in history, under threat of death, people bravely chose to resist.
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Belgium Pigeon
- By Don Rottiers on 08-10-21
By: Gordon Corera
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Ravensbruck
- Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women
- By: Sarah Helm
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 32 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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On a sunny morning in May 1939, a phalanx of 867 women - housewives, doctors, opera singers, politicians, prostitutes - was marched through the woods 50 miles north of Berlin, driven on past a shining lake, then herded in through giant gates. Whipping and kicking them were scores of German women guards. Their destination was Ravensbrück, a concentration camp designed specifically for women by Heinrich Himmler, prime architect of the Holocaust.
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My mother was a Ravensbruck survivor.
- By Stephen Sean Campbell on 07-06-20
By: Sarah Helm
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The Vatican Pimpernel
- The World War II Exploits of the Monsignor Who Saved Over 6,500 Lives
- By: Brian Fleming
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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During the German occupation of Rome from 1942-1944, Irishman Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty ran an escape organization for Allied POWs and civilians, including Jews. Safe within the Vatican state, he regularly ventured out in disguise to continue his mission, which earned him the nickname 'The Pimpernel of the Vatican'. When the Allies entered Rome, he and his collaborators - priests, nuns, and laypeople of numerous nationalities and religious beliefs - had saved the lives of over 6,500 people.
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Enthralling
- By Jean on 05-27-15
By: Brian Fleming
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Americans in Paris
- Life and Death under Nazi Occupation
- By: Charles Glass
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In Americans in Paris, tales of adventure, intrigue, passion, deceit, and survival unfold season by season as renowned journalist Charles Glass tells the story of a remarkable cast of expatriates and their struggles in Nazi Paris. Before the Second World War began, approximately thirty thousand Americans lived in Paris, and when war broke out in 1939 almost five thousand remained.
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Informative, but average engagement
- By Leann on 05-09-17
By: Charles Glass
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Into the Lion's Mouth
- The True Story of Dusko Popov: Word War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond
- By: Larry Loftis
- Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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James Bond has nothing on Dusko Popov. A double agent for the Abwehr, MI5 and MI6, and the FBI during World War II, Popov seduced numerous women, spoke five languages, and was a crack shot, all while maintaining his cover as a Yugoslavian diplomat....
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A boring account of exciting events.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-30-18
By: Larry Loftis
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Code Name: Lise
- The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy
- By: Larry Loftis
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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1942: World War II is in full swing. Odette Sansom decides to follow in her war hero father’s footsteps by becoming an SOE agent to aid Britain and her beloved homeland, France. Five failed attempts and a plane crash later, she finally lands in occupied France to begin her mission. It is here that she meets her commanding officer, Captain Peter Churchill. As they successfully complete mission after mission, Peter and Odette fall in love. All the while, they are being hunted by the cunning German secret police sergeant, Hugo Bleicher, who finally succeeds in capturing them.
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SKIP THE PROLOGUE!
- By Erica J. Conway on 09-17-19
By: Larry Loftis
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East West Street
- On the Origins of "Genocide" and "Crimes Against Humanity"
- By: Philippe Sands
- Narrated by: David Rintoul, Philippe Sands
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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When human rights lawyer Philippe Sands received an invitation to deliver a lecture in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, he began to uncover a series of extraordinary historical coincidences. It set him on a quest that would take him halfway around the world in an exploration of the origins of international law and the pursuit of his own secret family history, beginning and ending with the last day of the Nuremberg Trials.
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Outstanding!
- By lori on 05-07-18
By: Philippe Sands
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Dancing with the Enemy
- My Family's Holocaust Secret
- By: Paul Glaser
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster, Christa Lewis
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The gripping story of the author's aunt, a Jewish dance instructor who was betrayed to the Nazis by the two men she loved, yet managed to survive WWII by teaching dance lessons to the SS at Auschwitz. Her epic life becomes a window into the author's own past and the key to discovering his Jewish roots.
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Amazing Unique
- By Nordic Artisan on 05-11-19
By: Paul Glaser
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A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich
- By: Lucas Delattre
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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A work of remarkable scholarship that moves with the swift pace of a John le Carre thriller, A Spy at the Heart of the Third Reich is a chilling addition to the literature of espionage. In 1943, a young official named Fritz Kolbe from the German foreign ministry arranged to meet with Allen Dulles, then an OSS officer in Switzerland and later the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
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100% very good
- By Coco on 06-11-07
By: Lucas Delattre
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Agent M
- The Lives and Spies of MI5's Maxwell Knight
- By: Henry Hemming
- Narrated by: Henry Hemming
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The fascinating, improbable true story of Maxwell Knight - the great MI5 spymaster and inspiration for the James Bond character M. Maxwell Knight was perhaps the greatest spymaster in history. He did more than anyone in his era to combat the rising threat of fascism in Britain during World War II, in spite of his own history inside this movement. He was also truly eccentric - a thrice-married jazz aficionado who kept a menagerie of exotic pets - and almost totally unqualified for espionage. Yet he had a gift for turning practically anyone into a fearless secret agent.
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Outstanding in every way!
- By Grace O'Malley on 07-18-22
By: Henry Hemming
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Agent 110
- An American Spymaster and the German Resistance in WWII
- By: Scott Miller
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the secret and suspenseful account of how OSS spymaster Allen Dulles led a network of Germans conspiring to assassinate Hitler and negotiate surrender to bring about the end of World War II before the Soviet's advance. Agent 110 is Allen Dulles, a newly minted spy from an eminent family. Dulles met with and facilitated the plots of Germans who were trying to destroy the country's leadership.
By: Scott Miller
What listeners say about A Life in Secrets
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Esther V. Skandunas
- 06-01-21
loved it, but....
The content is very interesting and informative. There is one thing that bothers me....and I feel it is important to mention that the information in the book revolves more around the story of finding Nora Inayat-Khan, an SOE agent.
I was expecting to learn more about Vera's life. Vera's life does get explored more towards the end of the book, but, the majority of the book is dedicated to Nora.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Ashley D
- 05-03-19
History brought to life!
This book is exceptionally well researched and surprisingly unbiased. The fact that it is a true story almost defies thinking!
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3 people found this helpful
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- JOHN DAVIS
- 08-18-19
An exemplary work of research and journalism.
The book was not at all what I expected, but one cannot but admire the hard work of research and writing facility of the author. Vera Atkins remains a fascinating enigma, as do many of the major players in the book .Ms Helm conclusions , though entirely subjective, are well supported by her prose. There has been much written by other authors of this time in history and of the SOE and it is unrealistic to expect a consensus of these who existed in a cloak of secrecy. The narrator , Nicola Barber , was superb.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Laury Brownsberger
- 05-05-22
Awesome
Now I want to listen to it again. So many details, it’s hard to follow initially. So many threads to unravel. Interesting. Intriguing.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Grannie Annie
- 11-26-19
A life in secrets
I know the story of Vera Atkins and very much wanted to listen to this book. Narrator has an obvious lisp which is very annoying. Did not finish the book,
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3 people found this helpful
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- Glenda L.
- 03-22-24
The amazing person who was being written about.
I enjoyed the whole book, especially the person whose life was the subject of the book. Also the narration was superb.
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- Big Pink
- 10-30-21
Excellent but sad
This is a book full of heroes, bravery, brutality, pain and secrets. I wish their story were more well known. I truly hope their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
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1 person found this helpful
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- reader mother
- 02-15-20
we will never know much of what she knew/did
This was subject matter I would not have expected to choose or care a thing about. I became aware of Vera from the 30+ hours of Sarah Helm's thorough history of Ravensbruck (concentration camp for women). She was a Romanian born British intelligence officer who worked in the France section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during WWII. While espionage has captivated many, Ian Fleming's James Bond fans to name just some, Miss Atkins' story was deep & interesting beyond her short time in a leadership role from London during the war. It stretches from her childhood in Romania across many countries & decades & characters. This woman had an intimate personal view of the inside of goings on in a complex time. Unfortunately much of her story died with her in 2000, but, following in the footsteps of others who followed it somewhat earlier, this author tireless dug for evidence & drew some conclusions of her own that are very thought provoking & entertaining to hear.
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9 people found this helpful
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- marykk
- 09-21-20
Vera Atkins continues to be a bit of a mstery
What a revelation of SOE, Buckmaster, Atkins and many others who were involved in espionage in WWII. The bravery of the SOE agents was amazing. I'm not sure how well-served they were by their handlers. Atkins' determination to learn the fates of the agents and especially the women was remarkable. But I was left wondering about her actual motives. Helm did a great job of researching this history.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lu
- 12-18-20
Had to exchange this one.
After a couple of hours spent in searching for something to keep me interested, I gave up. The writer seemed to never find a direction and I became tired of endless description and details. Too bad. The subject of the role of women in World War 2 is a favorite of mine.
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2 people found this helpful