Agent Zo

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025
The incredible story of Agent Zo, the WW2 Polish resistance fighter secretly trained by British special forces and the only woman to be parachuted back behind enemy lines

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION: 'A masterfully written biography . inspiring and powerful'
'Gripping, moving and important' Simon Sebag Montefiore
'Agent Zo is a triumph. Absolutely essential reading' Hallie Rubenhold
'The astonishing story of an extraordinary woman' Jonathon Freedland

Agent Zo tells the incredible true story of Elżbieta Zawacka, the WW2 resistance fighter known as 'Zo'. The only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, Zo undertook two missions in the capital before secret Special Operations Executive training in the British countryside.

As the only female member of the Polish elite Special Forces - the SOE-affiliated 'Silent Unseen' - Zo became the only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo (who arrested her entire family), she played a key role in the Warsaw Uprising and ultimately in the liberation of Poland. After the war, Zo was demobbed as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not only imprisoned her but ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years.

Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten hero back to life, transforming the way we see female agency in the Second World War.

'Deeply researched and written with verve . thoughtful as well as action packed' The Times

Discover why readers love Agent Zo:

'Clare Mulley tells the story brilliantly, putting you right at the heart of the action. I was sitting next to Zo as she prepared to jump from a plane, by her side as she leapt from a train, my heart racing, the sweat pouring off me as she confronted Nazi officials' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'An incredible book about an incredible woman' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Should be required reading' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Powerful storytelling and immaculate research' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'The courage of the Resistance fighters is astonishing and Elżbieta Zawacka would definitely be on my 'dream dinner party' guest list. Congratulations to Clare Mulley for her depth of research and storytelling' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Contributor: Clare Mulley (Read by), Kristin Atherton (Read by)

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