Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan

By Shrabani Basu

This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of an Indian prince, Tipu Sultan (the Tiger of Mysore), who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II. 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 agents awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing, not even her real name. Kept in solitary confinement, her hands and feet chained together, Noor was starved and beaten, but the Germans could not break her spirit. Ten months after she was captured, she was taken to Dachau concentration camp and, on 13 September 1944, she was shot. Her last word was ‘Liberté.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9780752463681

Shrabani Basu

Shrabani Basu is an author and a journalist. She was born in Kolkata and grew up in Dhaka, Kathmandu and Delhi. Her books include Victoria & Abdul: The Extraordinary True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant, now a major motion picture, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan and For King and Another Country: Indian Soldiers on the Western Front, 1914–18. In 2010, she set up the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust and campaigned for a memorial for the Second World War heroine, which was unveiled by Princess Anne in London in November 2012.

Reviews for Spy Princess

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Inspiring biography of an unassuming heroine.

[riverwillow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an interesting and well reseached biography of a fascinating women whose abiding belief was not to tell a lie to anyone and yet became a spy. She also, alone in Pais, managed to evade capture for a long time. I highly recommend this book.

[jontseng · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Slightly sappy, but you can't deny the power or tragedy of its subject matter.

[thiscatsabroad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A heart-breaking story of courageous woman: well researched but the writing is highly simplistic and details often repeated. I was riveted to Noor´s story but, at times, felt that the author was writing to an audience of children.