Nina Willner is an American nonfiction author, a former intelligence officer, and a human rights activist. Forty Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall (HarperCollins William Morrow, 2016) is her first book, which tells the true story of her mother's escape from communist East Germany at age 20, the family she left behind, and their journey to reunite over four decades. During the Cold War, Willner led classified missions in Soviet-controlled East Berlin. Her personal story reflects the broader narrative of the Cold War and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

Forty Autumns was named “Top 15 Nonfiction Books of 2016” by Christian Science Monitor and praised by Kirkus Reviews for celebrating the resilience of the human spirit. The book has been sold in multiple countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Holland, Slovakia, Brazil, and China.

Willner's second book, The Boys in the Light: An Extraordinary WWII Story of Survival, Faith and Brotherhood, was published in July 2025 by Penguin Random House (Dutton). It narrates the true story of her father, Eddie Willner's journey through the Holocaust and his rescue and adoption by a company of young American tankers from the 3rd Armored Division.

Prior to her writing career, Nina was a US Army intelligence officer serving in Berlin during the Cold War. She also worked in Moscow, Minsk, Prague, Ottawa, and Istanbul, promoting human rights, children’s causes, and the rule of law for the US Government, nonprofits, and various charities. She now writes narrative nonfiction full-time from her home in Washington DC.