The Last Secret Agent
The Extraordinary Story of a WW2 Spy in Her Own Words
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Narrated by:
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Jilly Bond
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By:
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Pippa Latour
About this listen
'Extraordinary... enthralling. We may think we have read all we need to about the Second World War's secret war, but despite an army of histories and fine biographies, Latour's account is the only first-person memoir we have by a female agent within it. It's also almost certainly the last. A darkly moving, marvellously detailed book.' -Telegraph, 5 STARS
'Vivid, honest, inspiring and sometimes shocking, Pippa Latour's memoir shows how right the SOE were to assess her as having '"tons of guts"' -CLARE MULLEY, author of Agent Zo
'A rare glimpse into the life of the last surviving SOE agent to have seen action behind enemy lines in France. Pippa's story is one of immense courage and personal sacrifice... a truly gripping and remarkable wartime service.' -HELEN FRY, author of Women in Intelligence
'Vivid and vibrant. Pippa's words echo with resonance across the pages, punctuated with historical context and fact.' -KATE VIGURS, author of Mission France
'Compulsively readable... A brilliant book.' -Mail on Sunday
***
'You know you can change your mind, don't you? Even now. Even when you are halfway across the English Channel. Any time before you jump.'
'Yes, I know,' I quickly reassured her, 'and I won't.'
In June 1940, a covert new force - the Special Operations Executive (SOE) - was set up to wage a secret war. Its agents were tasked with sabotage and subversion behind enemy lines, and over the course of the next five years, 470 special agents would be sent into France. Only 26 female SOE agents would return. None before have told their story in their own words.
This is the astounding true story of Phyllis "Pippa" Latour, the last surviving SOE agent. Born in 1921, Pippa's was an unusual childhood, followed by an even more extraordinary early adult life as she was parachuted into France aged 23. Incredibly brave, she travelled around the rural French countryside, concealing her codes in a hair tie and her Morse key underneath her bicycle seat, and sending crucial information back to Britain in the lead-up to D-Day. More than once she came frighteningly close to being discovered.
For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats. Now for the first time, her story can be told in full.
***
Perfect for fans of A Woman of No Importance and Women in Intelligence ©2024 Pippa Latour (P)2024 Octopus Publishing Group
What listeners say about The Last Secret Agent
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- Julie
- 17-11-24
What a story!
Wow. What an incredible lady. A very moving story, highly recommended. Narration was perfect too.
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- ian hall
- 08-12-24
Fascinating and humbling
What a story of-true heroism and a selfless belief in doing the right thing. A little piece of a rich tapestry of a time when people stood up for what is right and good people did not ignore evil.
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- cj
- 09-11-24
Very disappointing
I didn’t like any of it, I listened three times before writing this review, but my opinion of Pippa Latour didn’t improve. Personally I thought that her account makes her sound rather unpleasant. She appears to have disliked Claude de Baissac on the basis of his skin colour. This may be the only first hand account by a former SOE agent however I didn’t find it particularly interesting, in part because of the things she said but also because of the narration. Very disappointed
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