 First edition, Sutton, 2006. | |
| Author | Shrabani Basu |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Biography |
| Set in | Moscow, London, Paris |
| Publisher |
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| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| ISBN | 978-0-7524-6368-1 |
Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan is a book that traces the life of children's story writer and decorated British secret agent of the Second World War, Noor Inayat Khan. It was researched and written by Shrabani Basu, and first published in the United Kingdom in 2006 by Sutton Publishing. The book has a foreword by M. R. D. Foot and contains information from her formerly secret personal Special Operations Executive (SOE) files, released in 2003.
After a prologue detailing Khan's final journey to Dachau concentration camp in 1944, early chapters cover her ancestral link to Tipu Sultan and early life in Moscow, London and Paris. In 1940, just before Paris was occupied, she escaped with her family to Britain and volunteered for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). A fluent French speaker and a trained radio operator, she was soon recruited by the SOE, a secret British organisation. In June 1943, she became the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France, before being betrayed and caught by the Gestapo.
The book featured in the BBC's Woman's Hour in 2006 and was reviewed by Khushwant Singh who felt it filled in gaps left by previous biographies of Khan, and Boyd Tonkin who suggested that Khan's story should be taught in British schools. As a result of her work on the book, Basu helped form the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust. In 2021, it was announced that Spy Princess would be adapted into a television series.