AGENT ZO
The only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland.
Award-winning biographer Clare Mulley returns to talk about her latest book AGENT ZO which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non Fiction 2025, won the Polish Foreign Ministry History Book Prize, and achieved Silver in the Military History Matters awards 2025.
AGENT ZO is the incredible story of courageous resistance fighter Elżbieta Zawacka, aka ‘Zo’. The only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland - and in a dress - Zo not only established a crucial intelligence network and couriered microfilm across wartime borders while just one step ahead of the Gestapo, but also played a key role in the Warsaw Uprising and, ultimately, in the liberation of her country. Imprisoned and silenced by the post-war Communist regime, Zo’s remarkable story was kept 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 heroine back to life, transforming our understanding of women’s agency in the Second World War.
'Deeply researched and written with verve. Thoughtful as well as action-packed’, The Times
‘A masterfully written biography… inspiring and powerful’, The Women’s Prize judges
‘Infectious and mesmerising’, The Wall Street Journal
'Industrial strength heroism, told with sympathy and feeling’, Literary Review
'Page-turning… Poignant... This excellent account is a tour de force’, Military History Matters
'Gripping, moving and important: an amazing and until-now neglected story of female WW2 heroism and secret derring-do’, Simon Sebag Montefiore, The World; Young Stalin; Jerusalem
'Agent Zo is a triumph... Absolutely essential reading’, Hallie Rubenhold, The Five
'A terrific story, told with passion and authority. Not simply a page-turner, this is an important addition to the literature of WW2, a story for our times about female heroism’, Anne Sebba, Ethel Rosenberg; Jennie Churchill
'A fine piece of military history… written in a gripping style. Cries out to be filmed’, Andrew Roberts, George III, Churchill, Napoleon
'The astonishing story of an extraordinary woman’, Jonathan Freedland, The Escape Artist
Refreshments will be served and Clare's books will be available to purchase
The only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland.
Award-winning biographer Clare Mulley returns to talk about her latest book AGENT ZO which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non Fiction 2025, won the Polish Foreign Ministry History Book Prize, and achieved Silver in the Military History Matters awards 2025.
AGENT ZO is the incredible story of courageous resistance fighter Elżbieta Zawacka, aka ‘Zo’. The only woman to parachute from Britain to Nazi German-occupied Poland - and in a dress - Zo not only established a crucial intelligence network and couriered microfilm across wartime borders while just one step ahead of the Gestapo, but also played a key role in the Warsaw Uprising and, ultimately, in the liberation of her country. Imprisoned and silenced by the post-war Communist regime, Zo’s remarkable story was kept 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 heroine back to life, transforming our understanding of women’s agency in the Second World War.
'Deeply researched and written with verve. Thoughtful as well as action-packed’, The Times
‘A masterfully written biography… inspiring and powerful’, The Women’s Prize judges
‘Infectious and mesmerising’, The Wall Street Journal
'Industrial strength heroism, told with sympathy and feeling’, Literary Review
'Page-turning… Poignant... This excellent account is a tour de force’, Military History Matters
'Gripping, moving and important: an amazing and until-now neglected story of female WW2 heroism and secret derring-do’, Simon Sebag Montefiore, The World; Young Stalin; Jerusalem
'Agent Zo is a triumph... Absolutely essential reading’, Hallie Rubenhold, The Five
'A terrific story, told with passion and authority. Not simply a page-turner, this is an important addition to the literature of WW2, a story for our times about female heroism’, Anne Sebba, Ethel Rosenberg; Jennie Churchill
'A fine piece of military history… written in a gripping style. Cries out to be filmed’, Andrew Roberts, George III, Churchill, Napoleon
'The astonishing story of an extraordinary woman’, Jonathan Freedland, The Escape Artist
Refreshments will be served and Clare's books will be available to purchase
Good to know
Highlights
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- In person
Location
Rock Road Library
69 Rock Road
Cambridge CB1 7UG
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