Local author Jason Webster will be launching his new book THE SPY WITH 29 NAMES at Waterstones in Bridport on Friday 11 April at 6 p.m.
Published by Random House, THE SPY WITH 29 NAMES tells the incredible-but-true story of a Spanish double agent in World War II who fooled Hitler and secured victory for the Allies on D-Day.
Juan Pujol fought on both sides in the Spanish Civil War. He was awarded the Iron Cross by Hitler and an MBE by Britain. To MI5 he was known as Garbo. To the Abwehr, he was Alaric. He also went by Rags the Indian Poet, Mrs Gerbers, Stanley the Welsh Nationalist – and 24 other names. He tricked Hitler over the Nornandy campaign. He was the greatest double agent in history.
But who, exactly, was he?
Using his intimate knowledge of Spain and his skills as a crime novelist, Jason Webster has told for the first time the full true story of this extraordinary character. He tells of Pujol’s early life in Spain, his determination to fight totalitarianism – and his strange journey from German spy to MI5. Working for the British, whom he saw as the exemplars of freedom and democracy, Pujol created a bizarre fictional network of spies – 29 of them – that misled the entire German high command, including Hitler himself. Above all, in Operation Fortitude he diverted German Panzer divisions away from Normandy, playing a crucial role in safeguarding D-Day and ending the war, and securing his reputation as the most successful double agent of the war.
Meticulously researched, yet told with the verve of a thriller, THE SPY WITH 29 NAMES uncovers the truth – far stranger than any fiction – about the spy behind one of recent history’s most important and dramatic events.
The launch of the book will include the showing of a short film and a talk. Wine and nibbles will also be on offer.
JASON WEBSTER
Jason Webster is a highly acclaimed Anglo-American author and authority on Spain whose work ranges from biography to travel, crime fiction and history. His books have sold in over a dozen countries, including the US, the UK and China, and have been nominated both for the Guardian First Book Award and the Crime Writers’ Association New Blood Dagger Award. He has been favourably compared with writers such as Bruce Chatwin (The Daily Mail), Gerald Brenan (El País) and Ernest Hemingway (Sunday Telegraph).
Webster was born near San Francisco and brought up in the UK, Germany and Italy. After finishing a degree in Arabic and Islamic History at the University of Oxford, he worked as an editor at the BBC World Service for several years before becoming a full-time writer and moving to Spain. He is married to the flamenco dancer Salud and they have two sons. They currently divide their time between Valencia and West Dorset.
