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Spies
Discover the exciting and dangerous lives of spies and secret agents from Award-winning author David Long and rising star Terri Po.
A single spy can save thousands upon thousands of lives . . .
From Harry Ree, teacher turned saboteur, to Margery Booth, the spy who sang for Hitler, to Scotch Lass, Britain's smallest ever agent, discover twenty-seven of the most courageous and daring spies . . .
For as long as there have been secrets to keep, there have been spies, the world over, trying to uncover this classified information. Spying goes on all the time, and everywhere, but some of the most astonishing exploits occur during wartime.
The stories in this beautiful collection unpick some of the most astonishing missions undertaken during World War Two – actions that helped to save many lives. Amazingly, many of these tales had to remain a deadly secret at the time and are little known even to this day.
Discover twenty-seven of the most courageous and daring,
Giliana Gerson, Britain's first female spy,
Harry Ree, teacher turned saboteur,
Margery Booth, the spy who sang for Hitler,
Roald Dahl, the spy who became a bestselling author,
Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman wireless operator,
Scotch Lass, Britain's smallest ever agent,
'Major Martin' the man who never was
and many more!
A single spy can save thousands upon thousands of lives . . .
From Harry Ree, teacher turned saboteur, to Margery Booth, the spy who sang for Hitler, to Scotch Lass, Britain's smallest ever agent, discover twenty-seven of the most courageous and daring spies . . .
For as long as there have been secrets to keep, there have been spies, the world over, trying to uncover this classified information. Spying goes on all the time, and everywhere, but some of the most astonishing exploits occur during wartime.
The stories in this beautiful collection unpick some of the most astonishing missions undertaken during World War Two – actions that helped to save many lives. Amazingly, many of these tales had to remain a deadly secret at the time and are little known even to this day.
Discover twenty-seven of the most courageous and daring,
Giliana Gerson, Britain's first female spy,
Harry Ree, teacher turned saboteur,
Margery Booth, the spy who sang for Hitler,
Roald Dahl, the spy who became a bestselling author,
Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman wireless operator,
Scotch Lass, Britain's smallest ever agent,
'Major Martin' the man who never was
and many more!
224 pages, Hardcover
Published August 9, 2022
32 people want to read
About the author
David Long
58 books34 followersWinner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2017, writer and journalist David Long has regularly appeared in The Times and the London Evening Standard, as well as on television and radio. He has written more than 30 books for children and adults and lives in Suffolk.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 4, 2023
This book is describes the thrilling and dangerous lives of spies. Real life spies are not as glamorous as James Bond and they lead a very difficult and dangerous life. Most of them remain unknown back then and even later. This book focused mostly on the WW2 time period. There are so many women who carried out spy duties in a brave manner. I particularly liked the biographies of Claus Helberg, Witold Pilecki, and 'Major Martin'. I will reread this book because I generally reread many times anything I love.
April 8, 2024
A collection of brief biographies of spies from both sides of the WWII conflict.
The majority of the spies included in this collection are Allied spies. There are a couple German spies and two or three from the Cold War included. I had heard of perhaps 2/3 of the people included in here, but it was interesting to learn about the others and be refreshed on the stories of some people I had been introduced to before. Based on the chapters on people I had read much longer books on, David Long did an amazing job of succinctly summarizing the key parts of their missions that were defining parts of their lives and instrumental to the Allied success. Terri Po's illustrations help further bring these people to life and add a splash of color to the pages. I like that the font is larger than normal for a middle grade book and is dyslexia-friendly, making this a good pick for middle grade readers with visual acuity issues.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None. (Josphine Baker is depicted in a bikini dance outfit, based on an outfit she really wore.)
Violence: Wounds incurred and deaths in the war or after are mentioned with minimal gory details.
Ethnic diversity: Most of the people included are White Europeans or Americans, but there is one Indian woman and one Black American woman.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Smoking is mentioned. Obtaining a corpse and making him look like a soldier for a spy mission is talked about.
The majority of the spies included in this collection are Allied spies. There are a couple German spies and two or three from the Cold War included. I had heard of perhaps 2/3 of the people included in here, but it was interesting to learn about the others and be refreshed on the stories of some people I had been introduced to before. Based on the chapters on people I had read much longer books on, David Long did an amazing job of succinctly summarizing the key parts of their missions that were defining parts of their lives and instrumental to the Allied success. Terri Po's illustrations help further bring these people to life and add a splash of color to the pages. I like that the font is larger than normal for a middle grade book and is dyslexia-friendly, making this a good pick for middle grade readers with visual acuity issues.
Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None. (Josphine Baker is depicted in a bikini dance outfit, based on an outfit she really wore.)
Violence: Wounds incurred and deaths in the war or after are mentioned with minimal gory details.
Ethnic diversity: Most of the people included are White Europeans or Americans, but there is one Indian woman and one Black American woman.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Smoking is mentioned. Obtaining a corpse and making him look like a soldier for a spy mission is talked about.
July 17, 2022
This is a fantastic and informative book. I’ve read about SOE agents before and enjoyed not only their stories, but also the lives of others. There is a little historical inaccuracy in one of the stories, hence why I’m giving 4 stars. The illustrations alone deserve 5 stars though!!!
April 29, 2023
We loved this book! It’s a large book with big print and pictures in cartoon style which I wasn’t expecting but it is a kids book. My 11 year old read the whole thing in a day because it was so interesting to him. Cool backstories and unheard of stories brought to light.
June 5, 2025
This book is very appealing in content and design; unfortunately, there are no sources or back matter, which is especially disappointing in a book like this that offers brief snippets into multiple subjects.
Want to read
February 25, 2022Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
January 3, 2023
Fascinating, informative and compelling book
April 13, 2023
A shadowy place awaits. Espionage and secrets, sabotage and lies, great feats of daring and egregious acts of treachery during the Second World War.
Full Review Here https://justimagine.co.uk/review/spies/
Full Review Here https://justimagine.co.uk/review/spies/
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews