Spy Princess, Shrabani Basu
Spy Princess, Shrabani Basu
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Spy Princess
The Life of Noor Inayat Khan

Author: Shrabani Basu

Narrator: Shiromi Arserio

Unabridged: 8 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/30/2021


Synopsis

This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, the descendant of an Indian Prince Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II. Born into an illustrious Indian family in 1914 and brought up in the non-violent Sufi religion, Noor seemed an unlikely secret agent. Yet she became the first female radio operator to be landed in enemy-occupied France, and refused to abandon her post in Paris in 1943, continuing her work under extremely dangerous circumstances.

Shrabani Basu tells the moving story of Noor's life from her birth in Moscow—where her father was a Sufi preacher—to her capture by the Germans. Noor was one of only three women SOE awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing but her name—but not her real name, nor her code name, just the name she used to register at SOE: Nora Baker.

Kept in solitary confinement, chained between hand and feet, and unable to walk upright, Noor existed on bowls of soup made from potato peelings. Ten months after she was captured, she was taken to Dachau and, on September 13, 1944, she was shot. Her last word was "Liberte."

About Shrabani Basu

Shrabani Basu has been the London correspondent for the Ananda Bazar Patrika group since 1988, writing for Sunday, Ananda Bazar Patrika, and the Telegraph. Basu has appeared on radio and TV in the UK and founded the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust for the WWII heroine, which was unveiled in 2012. She is the author of Curry: The Story of the Nation's Favorite Dish, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, and Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Violet on April 27, 2016

Noor Inayat Khan was the daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic of royal heritage and his American wife. The family lived in Paris before the second world war broke out and Noor wrote and published children’s stories. When the Nazis invaded France Noor and her family escaped to England where she joined t......more

Goodreads review by Tim on April 19, 2017

Someone should make a film of Noor Inayat Khan’s life. I can’t understand why they haven’t already. Noor was born a short distance from the Kremlin to an American mother and an Indian Sufi father, himself of royal blood. The family later moved to Paris. Noor became the author of children’s books in......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn on June 03, 2010

I'm surprised this book isn't more well-known and that it took so long for someone to realize that this incredible woman deserved a full-length biography. Noor was the daughter of an artistic Indian father and an American mother. Raised in France, she was a children's author who was about to embark o......more

Goodreads review by Regina Lindsey on February 20, 2017

If you following my reading you know I have a slight obsession with the women of the SOE. All of my reading to date has been an overall examination of the program and its contribution to the war, particularly its role in preparing for the D-Day invasion. I’ve never done a reading on a specific membe......more

Goodreads review by Aravind on December 14, 2011

This is the story of a young woman, Noor Inayat Khan, born to an Indian sufi mystic father and an american mother. Born in Russia, they move to France where she, with her brothers and sister, grow up in a harmonious surrounding. The book talks a great deal about her good manners and discipline, poin......more