World War II Database

Full Title: The Last Goodnight: A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure, and Betrayal

The name Amy Elizabeth "Betty" Thorpe might sound unfamiliar to most, despite her life being full of adventure, intrigue, and lust. In The Last Goodnight, the author Howard Blum detailed the life of this daughter of a United State Marine Corps officer father and politician mother who fell, rather naturally, into the dark world of spies. During the Spanish Civil War, she saved Spanish Nationalists from certain capture. In the years leading up to WW2, she assisted in the efforts to decode the German Enigma. Back to the United States, she was instrumental in the acquisition of the Italian Navy and French Navy's code books. With dramatic flare, Blum told the exciting tale as if it was a spy novel, keeping my utmost attention but also making me wonder how much liberty the author had taken (especially since some key documents surrounding Thorpe's achievements had not yet been declassified). While the author most definitely fell into the usual trap of a biographer becoming biased in favor of his or her subject, Blum nevertheless truthfully reported Thorpe's unfaithfulness to her husband, her abandoning of her children, and other generally frowned upon traits.

I had reviewed this title in its audio book format. Tristan Morris did a fine job with the reading.

The Last Goodnight was an exciting read and I had certainly enjoyed it very much.