Between Silk and Cyanide
A Codemaker’s War, 1941-1945
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Narrated by:
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Eric Martin
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By:
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Leo Marks
About this listen
Between Silk and Cyanide presents the memoir of the man who transformed code-making and code-breaking for the Special Operations Executive in World War Two. Leo Marks later went on to become an award-winning scriptwriter.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©1998 Leo Marks (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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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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Adolfo Kaminsky
- A Forger's Life
- By: Sarah Kaminsky, Mike Mitchell
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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At the age of 17, Adolfo Kaminsky had narrowly escaped deportation to Auschwitz and was living in Nazi-occupied Paris, using forged documents to hide in plain sight. Due to his expert knowledge of dyes and his ability to masterfully reproduce official documents with an artistic eye, he was recruited to join the Jewish underground. He soon became the primary forger for the Resistance in Paris, working tirelessly with his network to create papers that would save an estimated 14,000 men, women, and children from certain death.
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Incredible!
- By Mareo McCracken on 04-28-17
By: Sarah Kaminsky, and others
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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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Sixth Column
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The totalitarian East has triumphed in a massive invasion, and the United States has fallen to a dictatorial superpower bent on total domination. That power is consolidating its grip through concentration camps, police state tactics, and a total monopoly upon the very thoughts of the conquered populace. A tiny enclave of scientists and soldiers survives, unbeknownst to America’s new rulers. It’s six against six million - but those six happen to include a scientific genius, a master of subterfuge and disguise who learned his trade as a lawyer-turned-hobo, and a tough-minded commander....
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The Yellow Peril as it was
- By Thomas Martin on 04-16-12
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Double Cross
- The True Story of the D-Day Spies
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy and suffered an astonishingly low rate of casualties. A stunning military achievement, it was also a masterpiece of trickery. Operation Fortitude, which protected and enabled the invasion, and the Double Cross system, which specialized in turning German spies into double agents, tricked the Nazis into believing that the Allied attacks would come in Calais and Norway rather than Normandy.
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Are You Sure Ben Macintyre Wrote This?
- By Sheila Quaid on 08-01-12
By: Ben Macintyre
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The Last Goodnight
- A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure, and Betrayal
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Tristan Morris
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Betty Pack was charming, beautiful, and intelligent - and she knew it. As an agent for Britain's MI6 and then America's OSS during World War II, these qualities proved crucial to her success. This is the remarkable story of this "Mata Hari from Minnesota" ( Time) and the passions that ruled her tempestuous life - a life filled with dangerous liaisons and death-defying missions vital to the Allied victory.
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Fascinating
- By Salui on 11-30-16
By: Howard Blum
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The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
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A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
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The Jewel in the Crown
- The Raj Quartet, Book 1
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Richard Brown
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume in Paul Scott's historical tour-de-force opens in 1942 as the British fear both Japanese invasion and Indian demands for self-rule. In the Mayapore gardens, Daphne Manners, daughter of the provincial governor, leaves her Indian lover, who will soon be arrested for her alleged rape.
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Superb writing, subverted by spiritless narration
- By mgale on 10-13-10
By: Paul Scott
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Hitler
- The Memoir of a Nazi Insider Who Turned Against the Fuhrer
- By: Ernst Hanfstaengl
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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An intimate friend of Adolf Hitler’s who turned against him during the Nazi rise to power delves into the character of one of history’s most evil dictators. Of American and German parentage, Ernst Hanfstaengl graduated from Harvard and ran the family business in New York for a dozen years before returning to Germany in 1921. By chance he heard a then little-known Adolf Hitler speaking in a Munich beer hall and, mesmerized by his extraordinary oratorical power, was convinced the man would some day come to power. As Hitler’s fanatical theories and ideas hardened, however, he surrounded himself with rabid extremists...
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Once a Nazi, always a Nazi
- By Alan on 04-10-13
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The Spy and the Traitor
- The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
- By: Ben Macintyre
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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If anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6.
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John Lee is GREAT!
- By David on 09-21-18
By: Ben Macintyre
What listeners say about Between Silk and Cyanide
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- GEORGE
- 04-03-18
Great book, If reviewer did not put me to sleep
The reviewer displays so much energy in his presentation, I can stay away at least 10 minutes before dozing off.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Terry G
- 02-17-18
Wonderful, Great, don’t miss
Would you listen to Between Silk and Cyanide again? Why?
I went back and read the reviews from the 1990’s, this book made a splash when it first came out, but there is not much on the audible version. I cannot say enough nice things about the book. The author, was an accomplished movie script writer and a little bit of a poet. And his genius shows, in the writing style.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Between Silk and Cyanide?
Leo Marks, will hook you from page one of the story, He was a cryptologist that worked for SOE, in London during World War II. Marks worked with many agents, some who died and same came back. He documents his and his colleagues, efforts to help in the war. He has a way of telling a story, that will excite you. I had to look up in Wikipedia a few times, to see how the stories would end before I got to the conclusion. Stories about his friend and famous spy Yeo Thomas, will leave you wanting more. His encounter with Jack Benny in Cairo, left Jack Benny and Mary Livingston laughing and so will you. The stories of the Dutch agents being compromised are an addition to what historians will be interested in.
Which character – as performed by Eric Martin – was your favorite?
The narrator, was perfect. He had the right level of snark and captured Leo Marks humorous arrogance.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes, I laughed and I cried, and wanted more at the end. Don’t miss this book. The narrated version would be even better than the printed version.
Any additional comments?
I read many audible books, especially World War II books. This is my first written review, because I wanted to make sure others got to share in my he joy of reading Leo Marks. When you find out want the Silk and Cyanide title means you will laugh and cry at the same time
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4 people found this helpful
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- donuts
- 06-06-19
Proof that non-fiction is humorous and unbelivable
A natural humorous writer who lived through all within. One keeps reminding self it really happened he lived through the deepest secrets of British/Allie which won the war.
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- Athena
- 12-14-23
Excellent Marks!
Leo Marks self deprecating humor lightens a very serious subject. A brilliant man, described by Bletchley” Park, “As the one who got away” Owner of hardback book & audio. My only criticism, Wish there was more. Marks worked with some of the most famous and highly decorated SOE operatives including Violette Szabo, Nancy Wake,Noor Inyat Khan, and his close friend, “The White Rabbit” amongst others.
His struggle to convince Baker Street that the Holland circuits were blown . It was the RAF who finally put a stop to the deliverance of operatives and weapons into the hands of the Gestapo leading to torture and death. Over 50 agents were blown due to the failure of the Holland section,
Leo Marks was a great man who despite his faults, and we all have them used his talents for the cause of Freedom.
Must read for anyone who enjoys SOE history.
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- Rachel
- 12-15-23
Absolutely fantastic
An astonishing true story, beautifully written and performed. It's amazing to hear this tale from behind the scenes of the code wars in WWII by the person who was actually there creating the codes. The writing is a treat, with a unique authorial voice full of dry humor and wordplay. A really different book that reads like a novel but that also conveys vital, firsthand history of the time. I couldn't put it down. Huge kudos to the performer, too, who brought the text to life brilliantly.
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- NF
- 11-20-18
Outstanding, dramatic memoir
A relentlessly paced and outstanding, dramatic memoir. Chock full of fascinating historical anecdotes. Too many off-color remarks though.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Corky O.
- 10-25-21
Unbelievable
I don’t know where to start. This book, although tedious at times, is a history of British coding during the better portion of World War II. Although I have known in general that cryptography exist, I knew nothing of how it was developed or used.
Marx gave a view of the war I never knew. Although sometimes offended by his attitude towards women, I wrote it off to the times preferring to concentrate on his unbelievable coding creations, The operations and people involved in the field and political gamesmanship at home.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-28-18
That voice...
The voice was unbearable- like a “text to talk” from the 90s. I couldn’t listen to it.
Ended up getting the physical book, which I enjoyed.
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4 people found this helpful