Few would put the name Juan Pujol alongside Eisenhower, Churchill and Roosevelt – the Allied giants of World War II. Yet, this underachieving chicken farmer from Barcelona could very well be the pivotal figure in one of the 20th century’s most important events: the Allied landings in Normandy during the summer of 1944.
In his book, Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day, Stephan Talty details Pujol’s cloak-and-dagger deeds as an extraordinary spy in the titanic struggle against Nazism. Employing charm and an amazing talent for deception, Pujol became Germany’s most valuable secret agent, when in reality he was a double agent working with the Allies.
Stephan Talty is a widely published journalist and the author or co-author of a number of other books, including A Captain’s Promise, which was the basis for the movie “Captain Phillips” starring Tom Hanks.
