A Woman of No Importance
The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Ratings23
Average rating4.2
***A New York Times bestseller*** 'Riveting' Mick Herron, New York Times * 'A rousing tale' The Times, Book of the Week * 'Cracking' Telegraph * 'Gripping' Irish Times * 'Brilliant' Evening Standard * 'Excellent' Spectator In September 1941, a young American woman strides up the steps of a hotel in Lyon, Vichy France. Her papers say she is a journalist. Her wooden leg is disguised by a determined gait and a distracting beauty. She is there to spark the resistance. By 1942 Virginia Hall was the Gestapo's most urgent target, having infiltrated Vichy command, trained civilians in guerrilla warfare and sprung soldiers from Nazi prison camps. The first woman to go undercover for British SOE, her intelligence changed the course of the war - but her fight was still not over. This is a spy history like no other, telling the story of the hunting accident that disabled her, the discrimination she fought and the secret life that helped her triumph over shocking adversity.
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I knew of Virginia Hall via the Rejected Princesses series, which gives a good overview of her life and how utterly badass this woman was. This book pays effective tribute to her, and gives a better view of her life, including just how frustrated this poor woman must have been on such a regular basis.
Fascinating book. You could make a half dozen movies out of her life and adventures during WW2.
But nobody would believe they were true.
A true hero of the Allies that I had never heard of.
Tireless, brave, highly skilled, and incredibly lucky, Virginia Hall was one of the most effective allied agents operating in France during WW2. A Woman of No Importance tells her story in great detail.
She was an exceptional woman who never got the credit she deserved. In addition to fighting alongside the French Resistance, she set up and controlled intelligence networks that fed back vital information on German dispositions and plans -- first for the British SOE and then for the US OSS.
Working undercover, setting up cells, recruiting active agents, suborning enemy operatives, establishing escape routes, sometimes bluffing, sometimes just escaping with her life -- her activities were myriad. There is enough material in this book for many Hollywood movies.
The only drawback, IMO, is that it is a bit dry at points, but overall this is a very good narrative. 4+ stars.
