I knew that most German spies sent to the UK were either turned or executed, but this is a new story that I'd missed. Espionage, war, and history all rolled into one book. Highly recommended.

An intriguing look at the failed attempts by Germany during WW2 to infiltrate spy’s into Great Britain. The clumsy and comical methods and support paperwork was unbelievable. This is a great book if you are interested in the underlying espionage of WW2.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I must confess, I found this book hard going! The author has clearly put in a lot of work thoroughly researching the life and family of the Dutch spy Jan Willem Ter Braak (real name Engelbertus Fukken) but due to the lack of reliable sources for crucial periods in his life there seemed to be a high level of speculation.. This includes the possibility that his mission, having been parachuted into England as a Nazi spy, was to assassinate Winston Churchill. I was not convinced and perhaps this is because the author did such a good job building a less than flattering portrayal of Fukken I found it hard to believe the Abwher would have trusted him with such an important mission. What I did find interesting was the woeful story behind Operation Lena where German agents were sent into England in preparation for the Nazi invasion in 1940. The whole operation appears so poorly planned and executed compared with espionage efforts made by the Allies. Most of the "Lena Spys" were captured and turned into double agents though some were executed. Fukken survived longer than the others but did not appear to provide any meaningful intelligence or sabotage and when he ran out of money he took his own life. His demise is tragic and seems to have generated a lot of mystique surrounding the 5 months he spent on UK soil judging by the number of books and articles referencing this mission. Perhaps I was missing something, but the book left me pondering why such an unspectacular participant in WW2 has generated so much interest.
Many thanks for Netgalley and Pen and Sword for allowing me to review this book ahead of publication.