Ben Macintyre

From the author of Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat comes another thrilling  account of the wartime exploits of the Double Cross – an extraordinary spy ring operating in WW2.

The deception on D-Day, 6 June 1944, involved every branch of Allied wartime intelligence, but at its heart were 5 double agents.  One of the oddest military units ever assembled, including a bisexual Peruvian playgirl, a tiny Polish fighter pilot, a Serbian seducer, a wildly imaginative Spaniard with a diploma in chicken farming, a hysterical Frenchwoman, and a shadowy sixth spy whose heroic sacrifice is here revealed for the first time. These spies would weave a web of deception so intricate that it ensnared Hitler’s army and helped to carry thousands of troops across the Channel in safety.

These double agents were, variously, brave, treacherous, fickle, greedy and inspired. They were not conventional warriors, but their masterpiece of deceit saved countless lives. Their codenames were Bronx, Brutus, Treasure, Tricycle and Garbo. This is their story.