The Princess Spy: The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffith, Countess of the Romanones

Historian Loftis (Code Name: Lise) delivers an entertaining biography of American fashion model–turned–spy Aline Griffith (1923–2017). Born in the small town of Pearl River, N.Y., Griffith moved to Manhattan after graduating from a Catholic women’s college and found work as a model for fashion designer Hattie Carnegie. Griffith’s life took a turn after a chance meeting with an Office of Strategic Services operative at a dinner party in 1943. Griffith joined the OSS and, following her training, was sent to Spain in 1944 to search for Nazi supporters among the region’s social elites. Amid her information-gathering activities, she met and married a Spanish nobleman and became a countess. She quit spying in 1947 to focus on raising a family, but resumed clandestine activities for the CIA in 1956, though those missions remain classified. Loftis’s fast-moving narrative includes plenty of colorful details about Griffith’s social life, including lavish cocktail parties and her friendship with bullfighter Juanito Belmonte , and he sketches the battles between German, American, and British spies for influence over the Spanish government with precision. Espionage buffs will be enthralled. (Feb.)