Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan
This is the inspiring story of Noor Inayat Khan, a secret agent in the Second World War. A descendant of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore, she became the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France in 1943 and worked under the code name Madeleine.
As her circuit collapsed around her, she remained the last link with London and refused to abandon her post despite the dangers. However, she was betrayed, arrested, tortured and shot in Dachau Concentration Camp. Britain posthumously awarded her the George Cross for her extraordinary bravery and France honoured her with the Croix de Guerre.
Based on interviews with her family, colleagues and secret service records, Shrabani Basu traces the journey of Noor Inayat Khan from her early life in Paris as a writer and a musician to her recruitment by the British secret service, her valuable work for the Allies and final death in a bleak concentration camp in September 1944. Her last word was Liberté.
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Shrabani Basu is a Sunday Times best-selling author and historian. Her books include Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer, about Arthur Conan Doyle and the George Edalji case, Victoria & Abdul (which was adapted into a major Oscar-nominated film starring Judi Dench), For King and Another Country, Indian Soldiers on the Western Front 1914-18, and Curry, The story of Britain’s Favourite Dish. She is a frequent commentator on television and radio about Empire.
She is the founder and chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust which successfully campaigned for a memorial for Noor in London. It was unveiled in 2012 by Princess Anne. She was invited by English Heritage to unveil a Blue Plaque for Noor Inayat Khan outside her London house in August 2020. In 2024 she was awarded an honorary DLitt by the University of London for services to literature.
