SOE, the Special Operations Executive, was a small, tough British secret service, a dirty tricks department established in July 1940 and encouraged by Churchill to 'set Europe ablaze'.

Recruited from remarkably diverse callings, the men and women who were members of this most secret agency lived in great and constant danger. Their job - as saboteurs, informers, partisans, couriers or secret agents - was to support and stimulate resistance behind enemy lines; their credentials fortitude, courage, immense patience and a devotion to freedom.

In this classic study M.R.D. Foot, sheds light on the heroism of individual SOE agents across the world and provides us with a spellbinding account of the Executive's crucial wartime work.

With an introduction by David Stafford.

'It is impossible to imagine M.R.D. Foot's position as the pre-eminent historian of SOE ever being challenged' - Antony Beevor

About the Author

M.R.D. Foot was an army officer throughout the Second World War, and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for work with the SAS in Brittany. He taught politics and history at Oxford University, was Professor of Modern History at Manchester University, and among other books wrote SOE in France, Resistance, MI9 (with J.M. Langley) and Six Faces of Courage.

David Stafford is the author of several books on intelligence history, including Britain and European Resistance, Churchill and Secret Service, Ten Days to D-Day and Mission Accomplished: SOE and Italy 1943 - 1945.

Reviews
It is impossible to imagine M.R.D. Foot's position as the pre-eminent historian of SOE ever being challenged -- Antony Beevor
A fit testament to the bravery, selflessness and sacrifice of a magnificent group of people * Sunday Telegraph *



Book Information
ISBN 9781847922939
Author M R D Foot
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint The Bodley Head Ltd
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 522g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 153mm * 27mm