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Title details for Flirting with Danger by Janet Wallach - Available

Flirting with Danger

The Mysterious Life of Marguerite Harrison, Socialite Spy

by Janet Wallach
Saskia Maarleveld
Audiobook
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A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE
"A compelling story that pulsates with the energy of a thriller"—The Wall Street Journal
"Suspense, élan and a generous helping of glamour: Think George Smiley in a mink-trimmed coat."—The New York Times Book Review
The true story of socialite Marguerite Harrison, who spied for U.S. military intelligence in Russia and Germany in the fraught period between the world wars
Born a privileged child of America’s Gilded Age, Marguerite Harrison rebelled against her mother’s ambitions, married the man she loved, was widowed at thirty-seven, and set off on a life of adventure. Hired as a society reporter, when America entered World War I she applied to Military Intelligence to work as a spy.
She arrived in Berlin immediately after the Armistice and befriended the enemy, dining with aristocrats and dancing with socialists. Late into the night she wrote prescient reports on the growing power of the German right. Sent to Moscow, she sneaked into Russia to observe the results of the Bolshevik Revolution. Although she carried press credentials she was caught and imprisoned as an American spy. Terrified when told her only way out was to spy for the Cheka, she became a double agent, aiming to convince the Russian rulers she was working for them while striving to stay loyal to her country.
In Germany and Russia, Harrison saw the future—a second war with Germany, a cold war with the Soviets—but her reports were ignored by many back home. Over a decade, Harrison’s mysterious adventures took her to Europe, Baghdad, and the Far East, as a socialite, secret agent, and documentary filmmaker. Janet Wallach captures Harrison’s daring and glamour in this stranger-than-fiction history of a woman drawn to the impossible.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 1, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593741566
      • File size: 274445 KB
      • Duration: 09:31:45

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 8, 2023
      In this colorful account, biographer Wallach (The Richest Woman in the World) relates the life story of one of America’s greatest female spies, Marguerite Harrison (1879–1967). Born to Gilded Age wealth as the daughter of a Baltimore shipping magnate, Harrison volunteered with U.S. Army Intelligence in 1918, offering her services as a spy in Europe since she was fluent French and German. Arriving in Berlin after the Armistice, and with a legitimate cover as a Baltimore Sun reporter, she filed stories for the newspaper and secret dispatches to the U.S. government on the raging fight between German communists and the right-wing Freikorps for control of postwar Germany. She traveled to Moscow in 1920, where she glimpsed Lenin at the opera, interviewed Leon Trotsky, was arrested as a spy by the secret police after a mole in U.S. intelligence leaked one of her reports to the Soviets, briefly turned double agent, and served a harrowing 10 months in the infamous Lubyanka prison. Harrison’s lectures and books about her exploits made her famous, and she founded the Society of Woman Geographers in 1925. Wallach presents the eye-popping action crisply, but struggles to get under the surface of this impressive woman. Still, it’s a remarkable tale of intrigue and daring.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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