Spy Princess

The Life of Noor Inayat Khan

Shrabani Basu

$32.99

Paperback

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English

Miscellaneous
01 December 2025

Biography: historical, political & military; True stories of heroism, endurance & survival; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Second World War; Espionage & secret services

This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, the descendant of an Indian Prince Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II. Shrabani Basu tells the moving story of Noor's life from her birth in Moscow - where her father was a Sufi preacher - to her capture by the Germans.

Noor was one of only three women SOE awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing but her name - but not her real name, nor her code name, just the name she used to register at SOE: Nora Baker. Kept in solitary confinement, chained between hand and feet and unable to walk upright, Noor existed on bowls of soup made from potato peelings. Ten months after she was captured, she was taken to Dachau and, on 13 September 1944, she was shot. Her last word was 'Liberte'.

AUTHOR: Shrabani Basu lives in London where she is a correspondent for the Ananda Bazaar Patrika Group. She writes for the Telegraph, Sunday magazine and other publications in the group. She is the author of Curry (Sutton 2003).

By: Shrabani Basu
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm,
ISBN: 9781837050451
ISBN 10: 1837050457
Publication Date: 01 December 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

SHRABANI BASU is a journalist and Sunday Times best-selling author. Her books include the critically acclaimed The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer and Victoria & Abdul (now a major Oscar-nominated motion picture starring Dame Judi Dench). She is the founder of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust and an ambassador for the RAF Museum. She is a frequent commentator on Indian history and Empire on radio and television, and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of London for services to literature.

Reviews for Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan

The inspiring Noor Inayat Khan – posthumous holder of the George Cross and the Croix de Guerre, a Muslim princess and Indian nationalist who gave everything for our freedom – ought to be as popular a heroine in British schools as Florence Nightingale once was. Basu's moving and scrupulous biography might help that to happen -- Boyd Tonkin, Independent The true life story of Noor Inayat Khan is the stuff legends are made of: it is indeed stranger than fiction ... It has been meticulously researched .... It makes compelling reading -- Khushwant Singh, The Tribune (India) One of the most inspirational stories of World War II ... Reading this book is like watching a butterfly trapped in a net -- Christopher Hudson, Daily Mail