Kindle Editions

This is only a selection of (non-fiction) Kindle books on SOE, and many entries in the other book sections listed above are also available in e-format. Pricing varies a lot, but one or two of the older titles are substantially cheaper than their hard copy equivalents.
Books with a rosetterosette iconare recommended titles.


Kindle book cover for The Wildest Province

The Wildest Province: SOE in the Land of the Eagle by Roderick Bailey (Vintage Digital, October 2011). History of SOE in Albania.

Kindle book cover for Spy Princess by Shrabani Basu

Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu (History Press, April 2011). A descendant of Indian royalty, Inayat Khan was posthumously awarded the George Cross for her undercover work in occupied Paris.

image of Kindle book Patrick Leigh Fermor by Artemis CooperRecommended book rosette

Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure by Artemis Cooper (John Murray, October 2012).

image of Kindle book Heroines of SOE by Beryl Escott

Heroines of SOE: Britain's secret women in France by Beryl Escott (History Press, December 2010). Brief sketches of SOE's women agents.

Book cover for SOE: An Outline HistoryRecommended book rosette

SOE: An Outline History of the Special Operations Executive by M.R.D. Foot (Vintage Digital, November 2011). First published nearly thirty years ago, but still offers a well structured overview of the subject.

Book cover for SOE in FranceRecommended book rosette

SOE in France: An Account of the Work of the British Special Operations Executive in France by M.R.D. Foot (Routledge, 2004). The revised edition of Foot's invaluable official history.

Book cover for A Life in SecretsRecommended book rosette

A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE by Sarah Helm (Little, Brown, 2005). The story of how Intelligence officer Vera Atkins uncovered the fates of F Section's missing agents, and Helm's investigations into Atkins' own hidden past.

image of Kindle book Flames in the Field by Rita Kramer Recommended book rosette

Flames in the Field: by Rita Kramer (Penguin, November 2011). Kramer's investigations into four SOE women agents executed at Natzweiler camp in 1944.

image of Kindle book Messages in Handlebars: the Youngest Resistance Fighter by Kendrick Kirk

Messages in Handlebars: the Youngest Resistance Fighter by Kendrick Kirk (Self published, May 2011). The story of Jean-Jacques Auduc, who together with his family helped Ernest Floege and André Dubois of F Section's Sacristan circuit.

Book cover for All The King's Men

All the King's Men: The Truth Behind SOE's Greatest Wartime Disaster by Robert Marshall (Bloomsbury Reader, November 2012). A follow-up to a BBC Timewatch programme first broadcast in 1986, Marshall's book endorses a conspiracy theory that MI6's assistant chief Claude Dansey brought down SOE's biggest network in France.

image of Kindle book Carve Her Name with Pride by R J Minney

Carve Her Name with Pride by R.J. Minney (Pen and Sword, June 2012). Reprint of the popular biography of Violette Szabo.

image of book Inappropriate Conduct: Mystery of a Disgraced War Correspondent
image of Kindle book Spirit of ResistanceRecommended book rosette

Spirit of Resistance: The Life of SOE Agent Harry Peulevé by Nigel Perrin (Pen and Sword, April 2009).

image of Kindle book Tales from the Special Forces Club by Sean Rayment

Tales from the Special Forces Club by Sean Rayment (Collins, February 2013). Stories from Jedburghs Harry Verlander and John Sharp, Beaulieu staff member Noreen Riols and Special Duties pilot Leonard Ratcliff.

Kindle book cover for Camp X: SOE School for Spies by David Stafford

Camp X: SOE School for Spies by David Stafford (Thistle Pub, 2014). First published in 1986.

Book cover for Station 12

Station 12: Aston House - SOE's Secret Centre by Des Turner (History Press, September 2011). History and recollections of SOE's research and development establishment near Stevenage, which designed and produced gadgets for agents.

image of novel Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity [SOE Novel] by Elizabeth Wein (Electric Monkey, February 2012). Also available as an audiobook.

©2009-2023 Nigel Perrin