Agent Most Wanted: The Never-Before-Told Story of the Most Dangerous Spy of World War II
by Sonia Purnell
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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 "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 show more 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. show lessTags
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6+ Works 3,093 Members
Sonia Purnell is a journalist known for her investigative skills. She began her career at The Economist Intelligence Unit before going on to edit a weekly financial magazine at only 25 years old. She has since worked for a number of newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Independent on Sunday and the London Evening Standard. It was show more during her time working for the Telegraph in Brussels in the early 1990s that Sonia worked with Boris Johnson, who later became the Mayor of London and the subject of Sonia¿s first book, Just Boris. In 2012 Aurum Press released Sonia's new ebook, Pedal Power: How Boris Johnson Failed London's Cyclists. Sonia¿s latest book, First Lady, explores the dynamics of the fascinating union between Clementine and Winston Churchill. From the personal and political upheavals of the Great War, through the Churchills¿ `wilderness years¿ in the 1930s, to Clementine¿s efforts to preserve her husband¿s health during the struggle against Hitler. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Virginia Hall
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