This is your last chance to book a free ticket for 'The Spy Who Loved’ talk by Clare Mulley in Lisburn.
An award-winning historical biographer and author Clare Mulley will give a talk based on her best selling novel „The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville”, in reality, the Polish-born Krystyna Skarbek, Britain’s First Female Special Agent of World War II.
Countess Krystyna Skarbek (aka Christine Granville) arguably influenced the Second World War in Britain’s favour more than any other woman – as such she was later regarded as Churchill’s Favourite Spy.
When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 instead of fleeing Krystyna found an MI6 agent and joined the Secret Intelligence Service. Described as “a flaming Polish patriot, expert skier and great adventuress” she submitted a bold plan to ski into Nazi occupied Poland across the Carpathian Mountains in winter. The report went on to say “she is absolutely fearless” and “says the matter is urgent.” Though shot at, chased, captured and escaped she succeeded in creating an escape line across the mountains through which she aided the passage of several hundred Polish pilots who would later go on to play a decisive role in the Battle of Britain.
Book review: https://goo.gl/3jueyb
Due to limited capacity, this event is by registration only.
This public lecture is a part of the For Your Freedom & Ours Shared History Educational Campaign kindly supported by the Northern Ireland Community Relation Council.
Clare’s first book, The Woman Who Saved the Children, about the spectacular Eglantyne Jebb, won the Daily Mail Biographers’ Club Prize. Republished in 2019 to mark Save the Children’s centenary, all author royalties are donated to the charity. Book trailer here.
The Spy Who Loved tells the story of Krystyna Skarbek, aka Christine Granville, Britain’s first female special agent of the Second World War. Now optioned by Universal Studios, the book led to Clare being decorated with Poland’s national honour, the Bene Merito. Trailer here.
Clare’s third book, The Women Who Flew for Hitler, tells the extraordinary story of two women at the heart of Nazi Germany, whose choices and actions put them on opposite sides of history. Watch Clare talking about the book here.
Recent TV includes the BBC’s D-Day75 coverage, Newsnight, and various news and history programmes for ITV, Channel 5, More4, the History Channel, and History Hit TV. Radio includes the Today Programme, Woman’s Hour, PM with Evan Davis, and Great Lives with Matthew Parris.
An Honorary Patron of the Wimpole History Festival, Clare is a popular speaker on the literary and history festival circuit, has given a TEDx talk at Stormont, and spoken at the Houses of Parliament, Royal Albert Hall, Imperial War Museum, National Army Museum, and British Library. She leads an annual lecture tour in London and Paris following in the steps of the wartime female special agents. She is always happy to be invited to speak.
Clare writes and reviews non-fiction for the Telegraph, Spectator and History Today. A past chair of the judges for the Historical Writers Association non-fiction prize, she also wrote the BBC Reith Lecture quiz on war and humanity.
Before writing, Clare worked for Save the Children and Sight Savers International. She is a member of English PEN, the Biographers’ Club, Historical Writers Association, and Writers Against Racism. She lives in Essex with her husband, the artist Ian Wolter, their three daughters, and hairy lurcher.
WHEN: Monday, 17th February 2020 // 7.00pm to 9.30pm
WHERE: Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum, Market Square, Lisburn, BT28 1AG
TICKETS: free, but you have to book them here
