Download or read book QUEEN HER LOVER AND THE MOST NOTORIOUS SPY IN HISTORY written by Roland Perry and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intensely revealing and entertaining account of a great royal secret and hidden love story - an unbuttoned history of Queen Victoria's loves and intrigues. Long before her successful marriage to Prince Albert, Princess Victoria had an affair with the dashing Scottish 13th Lord Elphinstone. After the liaison was exposed, Elphinstone was banished to India, appointed Governor of Madras, which allowed Victoria's mother to engineer a royal union for her with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. After five years pining for Elphinstone, Victoria finally gave in and married Albert. Despite a successful marriage, Victoria never forgot Elphinstone and after a decade in India he returned to her side as Lord-in-Waiting at Court. He only left her to take up the critical role of Governor of Bombay during the Indian Uprising of 1857. Elphinstone died soon after in June 1860 from a fever. Many attempts were made to bury the memory of Lord Elphinstone, his long-running relationship with the monarch and his grand service for the Empire, but Victoria recorded it in letters to her confidant, her first- born, the Princess Royal: 'Vicky'. The revealing correspondence, like a ticking time-bomb, sat in a German castle attic until 1945 when King George VI, Victoria's great-grandson, sent a courtier, MI5 operative Anthony Blunt, on seven special missions to gather the letters.
Download or read book The Queen Her Lover and the Most Notorious Spy in History written by Roland Perry and published by . This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intensely revealing and entertaining account of a great royal secret and hidden love story - an unbuttoned history of Queen Victoria's loves and intrigues.
Download or read book Victoria The Queen written by Julia Baird and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2017-10-03 with total page 770 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story for fans of the PBS Masterpiece series Victoria, this page-turning biography reveals the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen—a Victoria for our times. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, this stunning portrait is a story of love and heartbreak, of devotion and grief, of strength and resilience. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES • ESQUIRE • THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY “Victoria the Queen, Julia Baird’s exquisitely wrought and meticulously researched biography, brushes the dusty myth off this extraordinary monarch.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice) When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would threaten many of Europe’s monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public’s expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe. In a world where women were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand. Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother’s meddling and an adviser’s bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. At twenty, she fell passionately in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, eventually giving birth to nine children. She loved sex and delighted in power. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping conventional boundaries and asserting her opinions. After the death of her adored Albert, she began a controversial, intimate relationship with her servant John Brown. She survived eight assassination attempts over the course of her lifetime. And as science, technology, and democracy were dramatically reshaping the world, Victoria was a symbol of steadfastness and security—queen of a quarter of the world’s population at the height of the British Empire’s reach. Drawing on sources that include fresh revelations about Victoria’s relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning.
Download or read book Traitor King written by Andrew Lownie and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-07-05 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing upon newly released archives, bestselling biographer Andrew Lownie tells the story of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's glittering lives after Edward abdicated the throne—a world that was riddled with treachery and betrayal. 11 December 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after. But do they? Beginning this astonishing dual biography at the moment that most biographers turn away, bestselling historian Andrew Lownie reveals the dramatic lives of the Windsors post-abdication. This is a story of a royal shut out by his family and forced into exile; of the Nazi attempts to recruit the duke to their cause; and of why the duke, as Governor of the Bahamas, tried to shut down the investigation into the murder of a close friend. It is a story of a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position, all the while manipulating the media to portray themselves as victims. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were, in their day, the most glamorous exiles in the world, flitting from sumptuously appointed mansions in the south of France to luxurious residences in Palm Beach. But they were spoiled, selfish people, obsessed with their image, and revelling in adulterous affairs. Drawing upon previously unexplored archives, Lownie shows in dramatic fashion how their glittering world was riddled with treachery and betrayal—and why the royal family never forgave the duke for choosing love over duty
Download or read book Red Spy Queen written by Kathryn S. Olmsted and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Red Spy Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth Bentley
Download or read book Clever Girl written by Lauren Kessler and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Communists vilified her as a raging neurotic. Leftists dismissed her as a confused idealist. Her family pitied her as an exploited lover. Some said she was a traitor, a stooge, a mercenary and a grandstander. To others she was a true American heroine—fearless, principled, bold and resolute. Congressional committees loved her. The FBI hailed her as an avenging angel. The Catholics embraced her. But the fact is, more than half a century after she captured the headlines as the "Red Spy Queen," Elizabeth Bentley remains a mystery. New England-born, conservatively raised, and Vassar-educated, Bentley was groomed for a quiet life, a small life, which she explored briefly in the 1920s as a teacher, instructing well-heeled young women on the beauty of Romance languages at an east coast boarding school. But in her mid-twenties, she rejected both past and future and set herself on an entirely new course. In the 1930s she embraced communism and fell in love with an undercover KGB agent who initiated her into the world of espionage. By the time America plunged into WWII, Elizabeth Bentley was directing the operations of the two largest spy rings in America. Eventually, she had eighty people in her secret apparatus, half of them employees of the federal government. Her sources were everywhere: in the departments of Treasury and Commerce, in New Deal agencies, in the top-secret OSS (the precursor to the CIA), on Congressional committees, even in the Oval Office. When she defected in 1945 and told her story—first to the FBI and then at a series of public hearings and trials—she was catapulted to tabloid fame as the "Red Spy Queen," ushering in, almost single-handedly, the McCarthy Era. She was the government’s star witness, the FBI’s most important informer, and the darling of the Catholic anti-Communist movement. Her disclosures and accusations put a halt to Russian spying for years and helped to set the tone of American postwar political life. But who was she? A smart, independent woman who made her choices freely, right and wrong, and had the strength of character to see them through? Or was she used and manipulated by others? Clever Girl is the definitive biography of a conflicted American woman and her controversial legacy. Set against the backdrop of the political drama that defined mid-twentieth century America, it explores the spy case whose explosive domestic and foreign policy repercussions have been debated for decades but not fully revealed—until now.
Download or read book Crown Cloak and Dagger written by Richard J. Aldrich and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac reveal the remarkable relationship between the British Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria, through two world wars and the Cold War, to the present day. Based on painstaking archival research, the authors have uncovered a wealth of detail that changes our understanding of the role of the monarch in modern British politics, intelligence, and international relations. Far from being a dry tome, on page after page Crown, Cloak, and Dagger offers surprising revelations and stories of intrigue. The book begins with the reign of Queen Victoria, when persistent attempts to assassinate her demanded the creation of security services. Successive queens and kings have all played an active role in steering British intelligence, sometimes running parallel networks against the wishes of prime ministers. Even today, Queen Elizabeth II receives "copy No.1" of every intelligence report and likely knows more state secrets than any person alive. This book demonstrates that even in the era of constitutional monarchy, queens and kings continue to be far more than figureheads of state. Crown, Cloak, and Dagger is a fascinating and fast-paced history that will inform as well as entertain anyone with an interest in history, espionage, and the Royal Family"--
Download or read book Maid of Secrets written by Jennifer McGowan and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1559 England, Meg, an orphaned thief, is pressed into service and trained as a member of the Maids of Honor, Queen Elizabeth I's secret all-female guard. But her loyalty is tested when she falls in love with a Spanish courtier who may be a threat.
Download or read book Prisoners in the Palace written by Michaela MacColl and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sixteen-year-old Liza becomes a lady's maid to Princess Victoria and finds that the gossipy world of the palace servants gives her the chance to determine her own fate and help Victoria become queen.
Download or read book The Traitor s Wife written by Allison Pataki and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-02-11 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Socialite Peggy Shippen is half Benedict Arnold's age when she seduces the war hero during his stint as military commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride's beauty and wit, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret: loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she hides a past romance with the handsome British spy John André. Peggy watches as her husband, crippled from battle wounds and in debt from years of service to the colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and the American cause. Together with her former love and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to deliver West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Arnold."--from cover, page [4].
Download or read book The Queen Of The Night written by Alexander Chee and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER, New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and a Best Book of the Year from NPR, Boston Globe, BuzzFeed, and others. The mesmerizing story of one woman's rise from circus rider to courtesan to world-renowned diva—"a brilliant performance" (Washington Post). The Queen of the Night tells the captivating story of Lilliet Berne, an orphan who left the American frontier for Europe and was swept into the glamour and terror of Second Empire France. She became a sensation of the Paris Opera, with every accolade but an original role—her chance at immortality. When one is offered to her, she finds the libretto is based on her deepest secret, something only four people have ever known. But who betrayed her? With epic sweep, gorgeous language, and haunting details, Alexander Chee shares Lilliet’s cunning transformation from circus rider to courtesan to legendary soprano, retracing the path that led to the role that could secure her reputation—or destroy her with the secrets it reveals. “It just sounds terrific. It sounds like opera.”—The New Yorker “Sprawling, soaring, bawdy, and plotted like a fine embroidery.”—NPR
Download or read book Princess Elizabeth s Spy written by Susan Elia MacNeal and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain’s beloved royals against an international plot—one that could change the course of history. As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5. Spirited, strong-willed, and possessing one of the sharpest minds in government for mathematics and code-breaking, she fully expects to be sent abroad to gather intelligence for the British front. Instead, to her great disappointment, she is dispatched to go undercover at Windsor Castle, where she will tutor the young Princess Elizabeth in math. Yet castle life quickly proves more dangerous—and deadly—than Maggie ever expected. The upstairs-downstairs world at Windsor is thrown into disarray by a shocking murder, which draws Maggie into a vast conspiracy that places the entire royal family in peril. And as she races to save England from a most disturbing fate, Maggie realizes that a quick wit is her best defense, and that the smallest clues can unravel the biggest secrets, even within her own family.
Download or read book Elizabeth and Mary written by Jane Dunn and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Superb.... A perceptive, suspenseful account." --The New York Times Book Review "Dunn demythologizes Elizabeth and Mary. In humanizing their dynamic and shifting relationship, Dunn describes it as fueled by both rivalry and their natural solidarity as women in an overwhelmingly masculine world." --Boston Herald The political and religious conflicts between Queen Elizabeth I and the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots, have for centuries captured our imagination and inspired memorable dramas played out on stage, screen, and in opera. But few books have brought to life more vividly the exquisite texture of two women’s rivalry, spurred on by the ambitions and machinations of the forceful men who surrounded them. The drama has terrific resonance even now as women continue to struggle in their bid for executive power. Against the backdrop of sixteenth-century England, Scotland, and France, Dunn paints portraits of a pair of protagonists whose formidable strengths were placed in relentless opposition. Protestant Elizabeth, the bastard daughter of Anne Boleyn, whose legitimacy had to be vouchsafed by legal means, glowed with executive ability and a visionary energy as bright as her red hair. Mary, the Catholic successor whom England’s rivals wished to see on the throne, was charming, feminine, and deeply persuasive. That two such women, queens in their own right, should have been contemporaries and neighbours sets in motion a joint biography of rare spark and page-turning power.
Download or read book Hall of Mirrors written by Craig Gralley and published by . This book was released on 2019-02-22 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In World War II France, she went by the name of Marie. Or Brigitte. Or any of a half dozen other names. Some saw her as a middle-aged newspaper reporter. To others, she was a doddering old woman. To the Nazis, she was an elusive enemy, "The Lady Who Limps." Her real name was Virginia Hall. She had a wooden leg. And she was a spy. As the Allies' first agent to live behind the lines in Vichy France, she organized resistance groups, helped conduct sabotage operations, and reported secret intelligence back to the Allies. She was one of the first women agents in the CIA and was the only civilian woman of the war to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. This is the story of Virginia Hall and her immense personal courage and determination, and how she broke through the barriers of physical limitation and gender discrimination to become America's greatest spy of World War II.
Download or read book Gideon s Spies written by Gordon Thomas and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reveals how Mossad has successfully maintained an agent in the Clinton White House; how TWA flight 8000 was exploited by Mossad; how Benjamin Netanyahu sanctions the assassination of enemies of the Jewish state by Mossads trained hit-men; and how Robert Maxwell became Mossads most important link in the arms for hostages scandal, Irangate.
Download or read book Red Lead written by Roland Perry and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The legendary Australian ship's cat who survived the sinking of HMAS Perth and the Thai-Burma Railway Just after midnight on 1 March 1942, Australia's most renowned cruiser, HMAS Perth, was sunk by Japanese naval forces in the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java. Of the 681 men aboard, 328 survived the sinking and made it to shore-and one cat. Her name was Red Lead, and she was the ship's cat, beloved by the crew and by the Perth's legendary captain Hector Waller. But surviving shellfire, torpedoes and the fierce currents of the Sunda Strait was only the beginning of the terrible trials Red Lead and the surviving crew were to face over the next three-and-a-half years. From Java to Changi and then on the Thai-Burma Railway, Red Lead was to act as a companion, mascot and occasional protector for a small group of sailors who made it their mission to keep her alive in some of the most hellish prison camps on earth. Red Lead's extraordinary story, of courage, loyalty and love amidst battle, imprisonment and death, is brought vividly to life by bestselling author Roland Perry.
Download or read book Madame Fourcade s Secret War written by Lynne Olson and published by Scribe Publications. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A WASHINGTON POST BOOK OF THE YEAR The little-known true story of the woman who headed the largest spy network in Vichy France during World War II. In 1941, a thirty-one-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of Alliance, a vast Resistance organisation — the only woman to hold such a role. Brave, independent, and a lifelong rebel against her country’s conservative, patriarchal society, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was temperamentally made for the job. No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence as Alliance — and as a result, the Gestapo pursued its members relentlessly, capturing, torturing, and executing hundreds of its three thousand agents, including Fourcade’s own lover and many of her key spies. Fourcade herself lived on the run and was captured twice by the Nazis. Both times she managed to escape. Though so many of her agents died defending their country, Fourcade survived the occupation to become active in post-war French politics. Now, in a dramatic account of the war that split France in two and forced its people to live side by side with their hated German occupiers, Lynne Olson tells the fascinating story of a woman who stood up for her nation, her fellow citizens, and herself.
