A Spy Called Cynthia: And a Life in Intelligence

“Ashamed? Not in the least: my superiors told me that the results of my work saved thousands of British and American lives. It involved situations from which 'respectable' women draw back – but mine was total commitment. Wars are not won by respectable methods.”

Elizabeth Thorpe, code-named Cynthia, was a glamorous American recruited by MI6 to obtain intelligence from the Polish Foreign Ministry, then from the Italian and Vichy French Embassies in Washington. Her method was to seduce whateve...