The Last Secret Agent

'Far and away the most profound, beautiful, and inspiring nonfiction book published in New Zealand in 2024.' - Steve Braunias, Newsroom

'Extraordinary ... enthralling' - The Daily Telegraph (UK)

'Brilliant' - The Daily Mail (UK)

'One of the most remarkable women I have ever met.' - Chris Parsons, Commanding Officer New Zealand SAS, (2009-2011)

''The most remarkable story of a most courageous woman' - Hon Judith Collins

'This biography of a remarkable woman is an absolute cracker. What makes this book so readable and so accessible is the combination of Pippa's fantastic life story and Jude's ability to create the superb narrative.' - Army News

'Vivid, honest, inspiring and sometimes shocking, Pippa Latour's memoir shows how right the SOE were to assess her as having "tons of guts"' - Clare Mulley, author of Agent Zo

'A rare glimpse into the life of the last surviving SOE agent to have seen action behind enemy lines in France. Pippa's story is one of immense courage and personal sacrifice.' - Helen Fry, author of Women in Intelligence

This is the astounding true story of one of the last female special operations agents in France to get out alive after its liberation in WWII.

Born in 1921, Pippa Latour became a covert special operations agent who parachuted into a field in Nazi-occupied Normandy. Trained by the British, Pippa was lauded for her fluency with languages and her coding ability - attributes she put to remarkable use when she posed as a teenage soap-seller, often selling her wares to the German soldiers and sending back information via code to England.

Incredibly brave - Pippa knew she could be instantly shot if her cover was blown - she concealed her codes on a piece of silk that she threaded through a shoelace and wore as a hair tie. She bicycled around the region, often sleeping rough and foraging for food.

During her time in Normandy, Pippa sent 135 secret messages conveying crucial information on German troop positions in the lead-up to D-Day. Pippa continued her mission until the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats during WWII.

Now, for the first time, her story can be told in full.