A Very Dangerous Woman: The Lives, Loves and Lies of Russia's Most Seductive Spy

In January 1918, the British adventurer, diplomat, and secret agent Robert Bruce Lockhart arrived in Revolutionary Russia. His official mission: Britain’s envoy to the new Bolshevik government. His true mission: to create a network of agents, plot the assassination of Lenin, and overthrow the Bolsheviks.A dashing charmer, he soon got to know the aristocratic socialite, hedonist, and notorious seductress Moura Zakrevskaya. The two fell in love and began a passionate affair. But what Lockhart didn’t know was that Moura was spying on him for the Bolsheviks. What Moura didn’t know was that, as Lockhart’s plot unraveled and he was seized, she would sell herself to save him from the firing squad. Fleeing to England, Moura discovered a life of exile, a string of new lovers — including Maxim Gorky and H. G. Wells — and playing off the Russian and British governments as she spied for both. Through all this she clung to the hope that Lockhart would finally be able to return to her. Deborah McDonald’s sensational retelling of Moura’s extraordinary life opens up a world of revolution and espionage where survival means sacrificing more than just love and loyalty.