Agent Zo

The Untold Story of Fearless WW2 Resistance Fighter Elzbieta Zawacka

Author: Clare Mulley

Hardcover

The first book to tell the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, a WW2 Polish resistance fighter who was secretly trained by the special forces in the British countryside and then became the only woman to be parachuted back behind enemy lines, where she played a vital role in the liberation of Poland

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9th September 2024

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'Deeply researched and written with verve... thoughtful as well as action packed' The Times

'Gripping, moving and important' Simon Sebag Montefiore

'Agent Zo is a triumph. Absolutely essential reading' Hallie Rubenhold

This is the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo, told here for the very first time. Agent Zo was the only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, and then in Britain she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the 'Silent Unseen'. She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then the only female member of these SOE affiliated forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland.

After the war she was demobbed as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not only imprisoned her, but also ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years. Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten heroine back to life, and also transforms how we see the history of women's agency in the Second World War.

Critic Reviews

Gripping, moving and important: an amazing and until-now neglected story of female WW2 heroism and secret derring-do. This tale of the resistance fighter Agent Zo is amazingly told and deeply researched by the excellent historian of WW2 espionage Clare Mulley. Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of the World: A Family History
Agent Zo is a triumph. The deftly told life of this remarkable heroine helps restore women to their rightful place in the record of the Second World War. Absolutely essential reading. Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five
A remarkable story of resistance, elegantly told Roger Moorhouse, author of The Forgers
This is a terrific story, told with passion and authority, about a Polish woman resistance fighter of extraordinary courage and ingenuity. Not simply a page turner, this is an important addition to the literature of World War Two, a story for our times about female heroism which should be widely known Anne Sebba, author of Ethel Rosenberg
Clare Mulley tells the tale of the remarkable Elzbieta Zawacka with as much flare, passion and insight as her extraordinary heroine deserves. Recognition for Agent Zo's astonishing courage and immense achievements are clearly long overdue, but Clare Mulley vividly and compellingly brings her back to life in what has to be, until now, one of the great untold stories of the war. James Holland, author of The Savage Storm
Agent Zo is the astonishing story of an extraordinary woman - for so long silent and unseen but now, thanks to Clare Mulley's forensic research and razor-sharp eye for detail, no longer forgotten. Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
In this gripping, forensically researched biography [Mulley] illuminates the awe-inspiring lives of Zo and her sisters-in-arms.... Clare Mulley is a consummate storyteller. WI Magazine
Page-turning ... fascinating ... poignant ... This excellent account is a tour de force Military History Matters
Deeply researched and written with verve... thoughtful as well as action packed. The Times
Agent Zo is meticulously sourced and its novel-like narrative makes for a most enjoyable book Caroline Moorehead, Spectator
Written with controlled, unsentimental eloquence and style, [Agent Zo] offers unique and original insights into the vital, if previously unsung role of women in the defence of their homeland. The Financial Times
Mulley tells this story of industrial-strength heroism with sympathy and feeling Literary Review
Puts any number of espionage thrillers into the shade... Clare Mulley has given us a fine piece of military history, Polish history, and women's history, and all written in a gripping and thoroughly enjoyable style. Andrew Roberts

About the Author

Clare Mulley is an award-winning author and historian. All her books are under option for TV and film and widely translated. A regular contributor to TV, radio and podcasts and a popular public speaker, Clare also writes and reviews non-fiction for the Telegraph, Spectator and History Today.