From Bletchley Park to behind enemy lines, Helen Fry joins fellow historian Clare Mulley to reveal hitherto unknown stories of the pivotal role played by women in British Intelligence in the world wars.

The first half of the last century saw women take on an extraordinary range of roles in British intelligence, defying convention and playing a pivotal role in two World Wars.

Helen Fry‘s ground-breaking, panoramic Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two Worlds is full of hitherto unknown stories, taking us from Bletchley and Whitehall to behind enemy lines. She will be in conversation with fellow award-winning historian, biographer and The Spy Who Loved author Clare Mulley.

Buy a copy of Women in Intelligence by Helen Fry from Blackwells.

This event will last approximately 1 hour, without an interval. 

About the speakers:

Historian and biographer Helen Fry is the author of The Walls Have Ears, Spymaster, MI9, and more than twenty books on intelligence, prisoners of war, and the social history of World War II. She appears regularly in media interviews and podcasts. Her latest book is Women in Intelligence and their roles throughout WWI and WWII.

Clare Mulley is an award-winning author and broadcaster, primarily focused on female experience during the Second World War. She is currently working on a biography of the only woman in the Polish special forces, Agent Zo: Woman on a Mission, which will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in May 2024. Clare writes for various papers, reviews for the Spectator and TLS, and has twice been chair of the judges for the Historical Writers Association non-fiction prize. Clare is a recipient of the Bene Merito cultural honour of the Republic of Poland, and the Daily Mail Biographers Club.