A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Chosen 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 London Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography
"E
xcellent...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 Macintyre A 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.
Author: Sonia Purnell
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking
Published: 04/09/2019
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.2lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.30w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780735225299
Review Citation(s): Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2019
Library Journal Prepub Alert 11/15/2018 pg. 65
Shelf Awareness 04/09/2019
Booklist 02/15/2019 pg. 14
Library Journal 03/01/2019 pg. 129
BookPage 04/01/2019
About the AuthorSonia Purnell is a biographer and journalist who has worked at
The Economist, The Telegraph, and
The Sunday Times. Her book
Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill (published as
First Lady in the UK) was chosen as a book of the year by
The Telegraph and
The Independent, and was a finalist for the Plutarch Award. Her first book,
Just Boris, was longlisted for the Orwell prize.