AGENT SONYA - Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 001.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,b/w photographic illustrated dw/d panels,with capitalised,non-glossy,black-lettered 'Bestselling author' etc. credit,author's capitalised,glossy red-lettered name,capitalised,glossy,embossed black+red-lettered part-title with glossy,embossed,black hammer+ sickle and capitalised,non-glossy white lettered sub-title to dw/dj front panel; a red spine/backstrip with author's capitalised,glossy,white-lettered name and capitalised, glossy,black-lettered part title with ,glossy,black illustrated sickle and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered name to foot of same; rear panel with subject's b/w portrait photograph and white-lettered story synopsis. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present. Top+fore-edges ,clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,unblemished,generally sharp-cornered - top front corner tip minisculely bumped with reciprocal crease - original plain red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked,glossy black ink lettering to spine,a b/w striped headband and immaculate b/w contemporary biographical photographs and ephemera b/w reproduction photographs to either set of endpapers. UK, 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,viii-xxiipp+2-377pp [paginated] includes reverse of Contents list/table,reverse of Illustrations list/table with Acknowledgements for same and the endpapersmaps separator page for double-page b/w map of subject's travels,1928-50,and subject's travels in China b/w map and another Soviet Union 's b/w travel map,an Introduction,24 chapters and an Afterword,16pp of subject's biographical and other contemporary b/w photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp106/7 and pp250/51 respectively,A Note on Sources,a Select Bibliography,Acknowledgements and an Index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,an epigram,and rectos of Contents and Illustrations lists/tables. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It really is an exceptional, exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults. Ursula Kuczynski Burton was a mother, housewife, novelist, expert radio technician, spymaster, courier, saboteur, bomb maker and secret agent,all at the same time. Codenamed 'Agent Sonya', her story has never been told until now. Born to a German-Jewish family, as Ursula grew, so did the Nazi's power. As a fanatical opponent of the fascism that ravaged her homeland, Ursula was drawn to communism as a young woman, motivated by the promise of a fair and peaceful society. From planning an assassination attempt on Hitler in Switzerland, to spying on the Japanese in Manchuria, to preventing nuclear war (or so she believed) by stealing the science of atomic weaponry from Britain to give to Moscow, Ursula conducted some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century. In 'Agent Sonya', Britain's most acclaimed espionage historian Ben Macintyre, delivers an exhilarating tale that's as fast paced as any fiction. It is the incredible story of one spy's life, a life that would alter the course of history. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **