Agent Zo

This is the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo. 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.

Vorwort
The incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, or Agent Zo, 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. There she was hunted by the Gestapo, and played a vital role in the liberation of Poland

Autorentext
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 (BBC's Rise of the Nazis and Newsnight, Channel 5's Secret History of WW2, and Adolf & Eva), radio (Radio 4 Today, Woman's Hour, Great Lives, PM) and podcasts (Spectator, BBC History Extra, Dan Snow's History Hit etc), and popular public speaker, Clare also writes and reviews non-fiction for the Telegraph, Spectator and History Today. 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 (BBC's Rise of the Nazis and Newsnight, Channel 5's Secret History of WW2, and Adolf & Eva), radio (Radio 4 Today, Woman's Hour, Great Lives, PM) and podcasts (Spectator, BBC History Extra, Dan Snow's History Hit etc), and popular public speaker, Clare also writes and reviews non-fiction for the Telegraph, Spectator and History Today.

Klappentext
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025: 'A masterfully written biography... inspiring and powerful'

Agent Zo tells the incredible true story of El bieta Zawacka, the WW2 resistance fighter known as 'Zo'. The only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, Zo undertook two missions in the capital before secret Special Operations Executive training in the British countryside.

As the only female member of the Polish elite Special Forces - the SOE-affiliated 'Silent Unseen' - Zo became the only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo (who arrested her entire family), she played a key role in the Warsaw Uprising and ultimately in the liberation of Poland. After the war, Zo 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 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 hero back to life, transforming the way we see female agency in the Second World War.

Zusammenfassung
The incredible story of Agent Zo, the WW2 Polish resistance fighter secretly trained by British special forces and the only woman to be parachuted back behind enemy lines