Agent Garbo

One of history's greatest spies finally gets his due: Agent Garbo tells the astonishing story of a self-made secret agent who saved tens of thousands of lives. Juan Pujol was a nobody, a Barcelona poultry farmer determined to oppose the Nazis. Using only his gift for daring falsehoods, Pujol became Germany's most valued agent — or double agent: it took four tries before the British believed he was really on their side.

"Agent Garbo" turned in a masterpiece of deception worthy of his big-screen namesake. Pujol composed phony telegrams, cooked up documents, and brought a vast network of fictional sub-agents to whirring life. For his greatest performance, Pujol had to convince the German high command that the D-Day invasion of Normandy was a feint, and they should maintain troop strength at Calais instead. They bought it, keeping entire battalions near Calais for a week.

Based on years of archival research and interviews with Pujol's family, Agent Garbo is a true-life thriller set in one of history's most important theaters.