Flirting with Danger

The true story of socialite spy Marguerite Harrison, who slipped behind enemy lines in Russia and Germany in the fraught period between the world wars Foreign correspondent. Author. Filmmaker. Spy. Marguerite Harrison was born into Gilded Age American privilege and launched a successful career as a culture writer for the Baltimore Sun as a young widow. But when America entered World War I, Harrison secretly applied for a position in intelligence. She was sent undercover into Germany after the armistice. With her society connections and gift for languages, Harrison delivered reports of mounting tensions and the growing power of the German right, and returned home an unsung heroine. Harrison next fought for an intelligence posting in the newly formed Soviet Union. Posing as a reporter sympathetic to the Communist cause, she entered the USSR and was soon caught and jailed as a spy. Set the terrifying task of becoming a double agent for the Soviets, she strove to remain loyal to America. In both places, Harrison saw the future --a second war with Germany, a cold war with the Soviets--and was little believed back home. Janet Wallach captures Harrison's daring and glamour in this stranger-than-fiction history of a socialite drawn to the impossible.