A Spy Called Swallow

Autobiography: The love affair and marriage of John Murray, an official in the British Diplomatic Service and a beautiful Stalinist spy is one of the great romantic and heroic stories of World War II. John’s now re-printed reminiscences are augmented by a prologue and epilogue written by two of their sons, Leeroy and Peter, seeking clarity and continuity in their parents’ love and life story. As a young businessman in Latvia and Finland, John was recruited as a courier for the British Government. Then, in 1940, he was appointed as a cypher (coder/decoder) at the British Embassy in Moscow. Targeted by Stalin’s secret police, in the form of a young spy named Nora (code name ‘The Swallow’) John tried, but could not resist her. Passionately in love, and against the backdrop of war torn countries, intrigue and deceit, and against dangerous odds, he saves Nora from an inevitably dreadful fate.