A woman of no importance: the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II
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English
Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERChosen as a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by NPR, the New York Public Library, Amazon, the Seattle Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, PopSugar, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, BookBrowse, the Spectator, and the Times of LondonWinner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography“Excellent…This book is as riveting as any thriller, and as hard to put down.” -- The New York Times Book Review"A compelling biography of a masterful spy, and a reminder of what can be done with a few brave people -- and a little resistance." - NPR"A meticiulous history that reads like a thriller." - Ben MacintyreA never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, the American spy who changed the course of World War II, from the author of Clementine.In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and--despite her prosthetic leg--helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it. Virginia established vast spy networks throughout France, called weapons and explosives down from the skies, and became a linchpin for the Resistance. Even as her face covered wanted posters and a bounty was placed on her head, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped through a death-defying hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown. But she plunged back in, adamant that she had more lives to save, and led a victorious guerilla campaign, liberating swathes of France from the Nazis after D-Day.Based on new and extensive research, Sonia Purnell has for the first time uncovered the full secret life of Virginia Hall--an astounding and inspiring story of heroism, spycraft, resistance, and personal triumph over shocking adversity. A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war.
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Contributors
ISBN
9781984877611
9780735225299
9781432869991
143286999
9781984842732
073522529
9780735225305
9780735225299
9781432869991
143286999
9781984842732
073522529
9780735225305
Table of Contents
From the Book
The dream
Cometh the hour
My tart friends
Good-bye to Dindy
Twelve minutes, twelve men
Honeycomb of spies
Cruel mountain
Agent most wanted
Scores to settle
Madonna of the mountains
From the skies above
The CIA years.
Subjects
Subjects
Biography & Autobiography
Goillot, Virginia, -- 1906-1982
History
Intelligence officers -- United States -- Biography
Large type books
Nonfiction
Spies -- United States -- Biography
Women's Studies
Women spies -- United States -- Biography
World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- France
Goillot, Virginia, -- 1906-1982
History
Intelligence officers -- United States -- Biography
Large type books
Nonfiction
Spies -- United States -- Biography
Women's Studies
Women spies -- United States -- Biography
World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- France
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