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The Resource A woman of no importance : the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II, Sonia Purnell

A woman of no importance : the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II, Sonia Purnell

Creator
Author
Summary
  • "The never-before-told story of one woman's heroism that changed the course of the Second World War. In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." This spy was Virginia Hall, a young American woman--rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg--who talked her way into the spy organization dubbed Churchill's "ministry of ungentlemanly warfare," and, before the United States had even entered the war, became the first woman to deploy to occupied France. Virginia Hall was one of the greatest spies in American history, yet her story remains untold. Just as she did in Clementine, Sonia Purnell uncovers the captivating story of a powerful, influential, yet shockingly overlooked heroine of the Second World War. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Virginia Hall came to be known as the "Madonna of the Resistance," coordinating a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerilla fighters. Even as her face covered WANTED posters throughout Europe, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped with her life in a grueling hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown, and her associates all imprisoned or executed. But, adamant that she had "more lives to save," she dove back in as soon as she could, organizing forces to sabotage enemy lines and back up Allied forces landing on Normandy beaches. Told with Purnell's signature insight and novelistic panache, A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war"--
  • Virginia Hall-- rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg-- became the first woman to deploy to occupied France, before the United States had even entered the war. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Hall coordinated a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerrilla fighters. The Gestapo considered her the most dangerous of all Allied spies. Purness tells the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war. -- adapted from jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
352 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Contents
  • 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
Isbn
9780735225299
Instance
Label
A woman of no importance : the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II
Title
A woman of no importance
Title remainder
the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II
Statement of responsibility
Sonia Purnell
Title variation
Untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • "The never-before-told story of one woman's heroism that changed the course of the Second World War. In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." This spy was Virginia Hall, a young American woman--rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg--who talked her way into the spy organization dubbed Churchill's "ministry of ungentlemanly warfare," and, before the United States had even entered the war, became the first woman to deploy to occupied France. Virginia Hall was one of the greatest spies in American history, yet her story remains untold. Just as she did in Clementine, Sonia Purnell uncovers the captivating story of a powerful, influential, yet shockingly overlooked heroine of the Second World War. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Virginia Hall came to be known as the "Madonna of the Resistance," coordinating a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerilla fighters. Even as her face covered WANTED posters throughout Europe, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped with her life in a grueling hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown, and her associates all imprisoned or executed. But, adamant that she had "more lives to save," she dove back in as soon as she could, organizing forces to sabotage enemy lines and back up Allied forces landing on Normandy beaches. Told with Purnell's signature insight and novelistic panache, A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war"--
  • Virginia Hall-- rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg-- became the first woman to deploy to occupied France, before the United States had even entered the war. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Hall coordinated a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerrilla fighters. The Gestapo considered her the most dangerous of all Allied spies. Purness tells the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war. -- adapted from jacket
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
individual biography
Cataloging source
LBSOR/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Purnell, Sonia,
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
  • plates
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Goillot, Virginia
  • Goillot, Virginia
  • World War (1939-1945)
  • Women spies
  • Spies
  • Intelligence officers
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • Intelligence officers
  • Secret service
  • Spies
  • Underground movements, War
  • Women spies
  • France
  • United States
  • BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women
  • HISTORY / Women
  • HISTORY / Europe / France
  • France
  • United States
Label
A woman of no importance : the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II, Sonia Purnell
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-334) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
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
Control code
1040189301
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
352 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780735225299
Lccn
2018060359
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other control number
40029076229
Other physical details
illustrations, map
System control number
(OCoLC)1040189301
Label
A woman of no importance : the untold story of the American spy who helped win World War II, Sonia Purnell
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [317]-334) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
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
Control code
1040189301
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
352 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780735225299
Lccn
2018060359
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other control number
40029076229
Other physical details
illustrations, map
System control number
(OCoLC)1040189301

Subject

Genre

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