About the Author

In addition to receiving the Iron Cross from the Germans for her wartime contribution as a nurse, Marthe Mckenna (nee Cnockaert, codename 'Laura') was later mentioned by Douglas Haig in British Despatches and was awarded the French and Belgian Orders of the Legion of Honour for her espionage work. I Was A Spy! was first published in 1932 with an extended Foreword by Winston Churchill and was made into a film in 1933 directed by Victor Saville and starring Madeleine Carroll. The success of the book encouraged Marthe to write further memoirs of her wartime exploits, and those of her small band of fellow spies, and also led to a series of espionage novels written in collaboration with her British husband John "Jock" McKenna.

Reviews

'Straight out of Boys' Own Paper! I was reading stories like this in my comics in the 1950s, never quite able to believe that such things actually happened, and that such people actually really existed!' -- Paul Norman Books Monthly 17/02/2016 Enid Blyton meets James Bond in a rip-roaring memoir. -- Arifa Akbar The Independent 17/02/2016 This re-issue of a gripping tale of the wartime adventures of a legendary heroine, perhaps ranking alongside the legendary Violette Szabo, is one to be welcomed. Churchill was not the only one who could not stop reading this until 4am! -- Andy Saunders Britain at War Magazine 17/02/2016 Written at an electric pace ... McKenna's is an unremitting adventure -- Hang Deretz All About History 17/02/2016 A brilliant first-hand Account of the career of one of the greatest spies of World War I. -- Dr John Rickard History of War 17/02/2016