The Last Goodnight : a World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure, and Betrayal

The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Dark Invasion, channels Erik Larson and Ben Macintyre in this riveting biography of Betty Pack, the dazzling American debutante who became an Allied spy during WWII and was hailed by OSS chief General “Wild Bill" Donovan as “the greatest unsung heroine of the war.” Betty Pack was charming, beautiful, and intelligent—and she knew it. As an agent for Britain’s MI-6 and then America’s OSS during World War II, these qualities proved crucial to her success. This is the remarkable story of this “Mata Hari from Minnesota” (Time) and the passions that ruled her tempestuous life—a life filled with dangerous liaisons and death-defying missions vital to the Allied victory. For decades, much of Betty’s career working for MI-6 and the OSS remained classified. Through access to recently unclassified files, Howard Blum discovers the truth about the attractive blond, codenamed “Cynthia,” who seduced diplomats and military attachés across the globe in exchange for ciphers and secrets; cracked embassy safes to steal codes; and obtained the Polish notebooks that proved key to Alan Turing’s success with Operation Ultra. Beneath Betty’s cool, professional determination, Blum reveals a troubled woman conflicted by the very traits that made her successful: her lack of deep emotional connections and her readiness to risk everything. The Last Goodnight is a mesmerizing, provocative, and moving portrait of an exceptional heroine whose undaunted courage helped to save the world. Blum finds an intriguing, beguiling subject in Betty Pack, the Minneapolis-born wife of a British diplomatic functionary who fell into the world of espionage. Born Amy Elizabeth Thorpe to a Marine father and Minnesota bluestocking mother, Pack, "by nature a restless and solitary girl," married the British diplomat Arthur Pack out of desperation in 1930, not only because of her pregnancy, but also to escape the provincial U.S. and see the world. After a diplomatic stint in Chile, when she recognized that she and her husband were fatally incompatible, and then Madrid, she became radicalized by the Spanish Civil War. Though she sympathized with the Fascists, she had to play both sides to secure supplies for the rebels as well as spring her lover from prison. At her husband's next posting, in Warsaw, Pack was recruited into British intelligence, specifically William Stephenson's British Security Coordination, which wanted desperately to know about the Polish attempts to crack the German Enigma code. With her excellent diplomatic cover and her reckless highflying flair, which Blum portrays with brio, Pack was enlisted to seduce high-level Polish official Count Michal Lubienski, among others. Posted next to Washington, D.C., Pack was ordered to use her skills at "discreet entertaining" to get possession of the Italian naval cipher, which she dutifully accomplished by bedding the Italian naval attache, Alberto Lais. Subsequently, and rather incredibly, she was able to break into the Vichy French Embassy and secure their naval ciphers. Reading more like a suspense novel than history, Blum's account brings an unsung heroine to vivid life. Occasionally breathless and torrid in description, this is a well-documented work that certainly never bores From "A Note to the Reader" IN THE MAIN BUILDING OF the CIA’s sprawling Virginia campus, past the security guards and the detection machines, up a staircase and at the end of a winding corridor that doglegs to the left, is a windowless conference room. There is no name or number on the door. Inside, it has the feel of a space that might be used for a graduate seminar; there’s a whiteboard on one wall and a table long enough to sit a dozen or so intelligence analysts. But there were only two other people seated at the table on the June day when I was there--a distinguished agency historian and a press officer to watch over both of us. I had come with the hope of picking the scholar’s brain about Betty Pack, the British and American secret agent who had done so much to help the Allies win World War II. It was, for me at least, a tense conversation. The CIA official knew, I suspected, a lot more than he was revealing, and I had the difficult task of trying to pull the information out of him. But he was a shrewd man who had spent a lifetime guarding secrets; he was not about to make an indiscreet revelation to me. Nevertheless, we both seemed to be enjoying the game until he took offense at something I had said. I had announced that the book I intended to write would be a true story. Time magazine called her "the Mata Hari of Minnesota"; OSS Chief general "Wild Bill" Donovan called her "the greatest unsung heroine of the war." But for decades, the extent of Betty Pack's achievements as an agent during World War II, first for Britain's MI6 and then for America's OSS, remained classified. Now, the truth about this femme fatale--her dangerous liaisons and death-defying missions, the heartaches that haunted her life, her vital contributions to the Allied victory--forms a narrative more thrilling than fiction. Betty Pack was charming, beautiful, and extremely intelligent: these qualities would prove crucial to her success as a spy. It was a vocation she fell into almost by accident, but she turned out to be a consummate professional. Using the code name "Cynthia, " she seduced diplomats and military attachés across the globe in exchange for crucial secrets, but her missions went far beyond the bedroom. She repeatedly risked her life to secure coveted documents, such as the Polish codebooks that proved key to Alan Turing's success with Operation Ultra. Bestselling author Howard Blum masterfully spins Betty's triumphs, the trail of broken hearts she left in her wake, and her brushes with death into a suspenseful saga of wartime espionage.-- Adapted from dust jacket Time magazine called her "the Mata Hari of Minnesota"; OSS Chief general "Wild Bill" Donovan called her "the greatest unsung heroine of the war." But for decades, the extent of Betty Pack's achievements as an agent during World War II, first for Britain's MI6 and then for America's OSS, remained classified. Now, the truth about this femme fatale - her dangerous liaisons and death-defying missions, the heartaches that haunted her life, her vital contributions to the Allied victory - forms a narrative more thrilling than fiction. Betty Pack was charming, beautiful, and extremely intelligent- these qualities would prove crucial to her success as a spy. It was a vocation she fell into almost by accident, but she turned out to be a consummate professional. Using the code name "Cynthia," she seduced diplomats and military attachés across the globe in exchange for crucial secrets, but her missions went far beyond the bedroom. She repeatedly risked her life to secure coveted documents, such as the Polish codebooks that proved key to Alan Turing's success with Operation Ultra. The author has taken Betty's triumphs, the trail of broken hearts she left in her wake, and her brushes with death into a suspenseful saga of wartime espionage None None None STORMING THE CASTLE None None None None "A TERRIBLE RESTLESSNESS" None None None None None None None "HIDDEN IN MY YESTERDAYS" None None None None None None None None None None None None ENIGMA None None None None None THE LONG WAY HOME None None None None None WASHINGTON None None None None None None None BIG BILL AND LITTLE BILL None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None