The Beautiful Spy

The Life and Crimes of Vera Eriksen

David Tremain

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780750988957
• eBook ISBN:
  9780750991070
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

In September 1940 a beautiful young woman arrived by seaplane and rubber dinghy on the shores of Scotland accompanied by two men – one of Germany's many attempt to penetrate British defences and infiltrate spies into the UK. This seems to be one of the few established facts in the otherwise mysterious tale of Vera Eriksen. Even the origins of the woman described as 'the most beautiful spy' remain hazy, as does her ultimate fate. David Tremain delves into the archives, and in doing so begins to reveal glimpses of her fascinating life story: her career as a dancer in Paris; a tumultuous and violent dalliance with a White Russian officer of uncertain identity; her time in England with the Duchesse de Château-Thierry, an Abwehr agent; the suspicious and untimely death of her husband, and a rumoured pregnancy. The Beautiful Spy also grapples with perhaps the biggest mystery of all: what happened to Vera after she was released by the British?

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations and Terminology
• Introduction
• 1 A Mystery Unfolds
• 2 The Red Menace
• 3 The Importance of Being Ernst
• 4 Recruitment
• 5 Vera and the Duchesse
• 6 A Taste of Freedom?
• 7 A Stranger Calls
• 8 The Duchesse’s Circle
• 9 What Her Daughter Knew
• 10 ‘The Aliventi Group’
• 11 Dr Rantzau, I Presume
• 12 The Mission. ‘A Sullen Dispirited Group’
• 13 ‘A Boyish Interest in Detectives’
• 14 ‘Something Particularly Odd’
• 15 At His Majesty’s Pleasure
• 16 The Doctor’s Report
• 17 Walti’s Role
• 18 The Trial
• 19 A Breath of Fresh Air
• 20 The Missing Spy
• Appendices
• Appendix 2: Analysis of Vera’s Handwriting
• Appendix 3: Annotated List of Airfields found in the Possession of Werner Walti
• Appendix 4: Maps found in the Possession of Werner Walti
• Appendix 5: Agents Despatched to or Controlled in the UK, by Ritter
• Appendix 6: Expenses for Vera Erikson
• Appendix 7: Lists of Persons known to Vera Erikson or Named by her (From KV2/15)
• Appendix 8: Journey to Scotland
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Picture Section